LIBRARY 


^fi]3(!)a»(i)Q[is(iii  saEana^i^^, 


PRIJ^CETOIV,  N.  J. 


DONATION   OF 

S  A  M  II  K  1 .    A  O  NEW, 


I  L  A  ii  K  L  P  H  I  A  .    PA, 


Letter 


No. 


/v  ^  Jh^a^  ^^ i^..  '«2^. 


Book, 


•■-SSB^*' 


EARLY  HISTORY 


txm\  (K|m"t|  in  l^nierica, 


FR05I   THE 


SETTLEMENT  OF  THE  SWEDES   ON  THE  DELAWARE,  TO 
THE  MIDDLE  OF  THE  EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY. 


C.  W.'^CHAEFFEE, 

PASTOR   OF   ST.  JIICUAEL'S   CHURCH,    GERMANTOWX,   PA. 


PHILADELPHIA: 
LUTHERAN  BOARD  OF  PUBLICATION. 

No.  25  SOUTH  SIXTH  STREET. 

1857. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1857,  by 

C.  W.  SCHAEFFEK, 

in  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States  for  the  Eastern 
District  of  Pennsylvania. 

STEREOTYPKD   BY   L.   JOIIXSON   AND   CO. 

PHILADELPHIA. 

C.  SHERMAN   k  SON,  PRTNTEES. 


■^  y.  r^  ^- 


PREFACE. 


The  preparation  of  this  book  was  first  suggested  by 
tbe  Board  of  Publication.  According  to  the  original 
plan,  it  should  have  furnished  a  hasty  view  of  the 
whole  history  of  the  Church  down  to  the  present 
time,  in  the  form  of  a  tract.  The  importance  of  the 
subject,  however,  and  the  abundance  of  its  materials, 
were  such  as  to  occasion  an  early  departure  from  this 
original  plan.  The  investigation  has  been  confined 
to  a  limited  period  of  our  history,  and  we  have  sur- 
veyed that  period  with  a  considerable  degree  of 
deliberation. 

Thus  we  have  succeeded,  at  least  partly,  in  carry- 
ing out  the  intentions  of  the  Board,  by  the  prepara- 
tion of  a  small  volume.  AYe  have  also  endeavored 
to  present  such  a  variety  of  facts,  and  to  show  their 
connection  in  such  a  manner,  as  might  possibly  make 
the  volume  somewhat  instructive. 


4  PREFACE. 

Our  flicilities  for  the  collection  of  materials,  in  the 
several  public  libraries  of  Philadelphia  and  elsewhere, 
have  been  such,  that  a  regard  to  brevity  has  often 
compelled  us  to  restrain  ourselves  from  the  discussion 
of  matters  which  would  certainly  be  appropriate  to  a 
more  extended  and  elaborate  history.  We  have  been 
the  more  willing  to  pursue  this  course,  because  we 
felt  that  what  we  did  present  had  much  of  the 
charm  of  novelty,  and  that  we  were  acting  only 
as  pioneers  in  an  enterprise  which  will  surely  be 
undertaken  yet,  as  it  deserves  to  be,  with  a  more 
comprehensive  grasj),  and  achieved  with  greater 
thoroughness. 

The  Hallische  Nachrkhten  is  invaluable  as  a  trea- 
sury of  historical  information  for  the  period  over 
which  it  extends.  A^^ritten  by  the  fathers  of  the 
Church  themselves,  its  exhibitions  are  fresh  and 
authentic ;  and  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  day  is  not 
far  distant  when  at  least  the  substance  of  it  will  be 
presented  to  the  public  in  an  English  dress.  In  our 
references  to  this  work,  we  have  given  what  we  sup- 
posed would  be  its  English  title,  and  called  it 
Halle  Reports. 

The  remembrance  of  recent  agitations  in  the 
Church  that  are  now  quieted,  never  again,  we  trust, 
to  be  aroused,  suggests  the  pro]:)riety  of  our  making 
some  reference  to  the  exhibition  we  have  given  of  the 
doctrinal  stand-point  of  the  fathers. 


PREFACE.  5 

We  have  "written  not  at  all  in  the  spirit  of  contro- 
versy, but  with  a  sincere  regard  to  historic  truth.  If 
any  apprehensions  ever  arose  that  we  might  possibly 
be  charged  with  partialities  or  prejudices  upon  the 
subject  of  Symbolism,  or  that  our  allusions  to  the 
matter  might  possibly  j)revent  our  securing  the  con- 
fidence of  any,  those  apprehensions  have  been  quieted 
by  the  consideration  that  we  have  attempted  no  argu- 
ment either  on  the  one  side  or  on  the  other.  Wo 
have  supposed  that  we  could  see  in  the  fathers  of  the 
Church,  with  all  their  fidelity  to  our  Confession,  a 
fervor  and  liberality  of  spirit,  an  intelligent  zeal,  a 
depth  of  devotion,  that  was  altogether  commendable ; 
and  we  have  simply  endeavored  to  exhibit  what  we 
have  seen.  Indeed,  we  flatter  ourselves  that  our  ex- 
hibition will  tend  largely  to  allay  all  controversy 
upon  the  subject,  and  will  help  to  establish  and  con- 
firm the  peace  of  the  Church ;  for  it  may  be  seen  and 
felt  to  prove  what,  we  are  persuaded,  men  on  both 
sides  are  willing  to  be  convinced  of: — that  fidelity  to 
the  Lutheran  Confession  may  harmonize  with  the 
highest  and  clearest  tone  of  Christian  devotion.  We 
should  therefore  be  sorry  if  either  the  author  or  the 
Board  should  be  held,  by  the  statements  of  this 
volume,  as  being  committed  upon  the  subject  of 
Symbohsm.  In  good  faith,  and  with  the  best  of 
feelings  towards  the  whole  Chui*ch,  we  disclaim  such 

committal. 

1* 


6  PREFACE. 

So  this  book,  making  no  particular  pretensions, 
is  sent  forth,  with  the  prayer  that,  by  the  divine 
blessing,  it  may  be  the  means  of  doing  some 
good. 

c.  w.  s. 

Qermantown,  February  23,  1857. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE    SWEDES. 

PAGE 

Early  Settlements  in  the  New  "World — Enterprise  of  Gustavus 
Adolphus — Swedes  on  the  Delaware — Gov.  John  Printz — 
Rev.  John  Campanius — Luther's  Small  Catechism — John 
Thelin — Benevolent  zeal  of  the  King  of  Sweden — Rev. 
Messrs.  Biork  and  Rudman — The  City  of  Philadelphia — 
William  Penn — Church  Erection — Wicaco — Rev.  Charles 
Magnus  Wrangel — Unity  of  Swedes  and  Germans — Con- 
ferences— Bryzelius -.       9 

CHAPTER  ir. 

SPIRITUAL    CONDITION    OF    THE    SWEDES. 

The  Enterprise  in  erecting  Churches — Zeal  of  Campanius — 
Of  Messrs.  Biork  and  Rudman — Wrangel — Revivals  among 
the  Swedes — Separation  of  Swedes  from  the  Fellowship  of 
Lutherans — Increase  of  Demand  for  English  Preaching 42 

CHAPTER  III 

THE    DLTCII. 

Commercial  Objects — Lutherans  worship  in  Private  Dwellings 
— Persecution — Ptev.  John  E.  Goctwatcr — Rev.  Justus  Falk- 

ncr— English  Language 61 

7 


0  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTEE  IV. 

THE    GERMANS 

PAGE 

Record  of  German  Immigration — Benevolence  of  Queen  Anne 
— New   York — Schohai'ie — The    Susquehanna — Arrival    of 
Pastors — Lutherans  in  Philadelphia — Providence — New  Ha- 
nover— Rev.  Henry  M.  Muhlenberg — Ai'rives  in  Charleston 
*      — Salzburgers — Arrives  in  Philadelphia 70 

CHAPTER  Y. 

CONGREGATIONS    ORGANIZED. 

Churches  in  Philadelphia  and  its  Vicinity — Muhlenberg's  Ac- 
tivity— Increased  Demand  for  Pastors — Handschuh — Kurtz 
— Schaum — Lancaster 95 

CHAPTER  VI 

STATE    OF    GERMAN    CHURCHES. 

German  Preformed — Lutheran  Population — Church  Discipline 
— Purity  of  Doctrine — Youthful  Piety — Catechetical  Instruc- 
tion— Synod  of  Pennsylvania  organized — Learning  of  the 
Clergy — Straitened  Circumstances  of  many  Germans — Re- 
dcmptioners  —  Neulaender — Impostors  —  Germans  Reserved 
— Too  tenacious  of  the  Mother-Tongue — Consequent  Losses 
of  the  Church,  &c.  &c 115 


EARLY  HISTORY 


OF    THE 


i'ut|cnra  (i[|iircj)  iit  l^mcrka. 


1^- 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE    SWEDES. 

It  is  proposed  to  furnisli  a  short  history  of  the 
Evano-elical  Lutheran  Church  in  America.  The 
field  of  observation  thus  opened  is,  in  itself,  so 
extensive  and  so  full  of  materials,  that  the  chief 
difficulty  will  be  in  making  the  history  a  short 
one. 

After  the  agitations  of  Europe  consequent  upon 
the  Reformation  had  begun  to  subside,  various 
causes  combined  to  arrest  and  fix  upon  the  newly- 
discovered  Continent  of  the  AVest  the  practical 
attention  of  the  nations  of  the  Old  World.  To 
some,  it  appeared  as  an  admirable  field  for  the 
exercise  of  a  bold  and  adventurous  spirit.  Others 
appreciated  it  because  it  promised  to  reward  the 
enterprise  of  commerce  with  the  richest  gains. 


10  EARLY   IIISTOEY   OF   THE 

And  yet  another  class  longed  for  it,  and  sought  it 
under  the  noble  conviction  that  it  would  be  an 
asylum  for  the  oppressed,  a  refuge  from  civil  and 
religious  persecution,  affording  to  their  devout 
and  believing  hearts  what  their  native  land  had 
denied  them, — "freedom  to  worship  God." 

So  a  company  of  English  adventurers  effected 
the  first  permanent  settlement  upon  this  conti- 
nent, in  Virginia,  in  the  year  1607.  The  Dutch, 
impelled  by  the  spirit  of  mercantile  enterprise, 
established  a  second  colony  along  the  Hudson  in 
1614;  and  the  Puritans,  supported  through  many 
trials  by  their  faith  in  God,  and  enthusiastic  for 
the  advancement  of  his  kingdom  upon  earth, 
planted  the  third  in  I^ew  England  in  1620. 

Influenced  by  the  progress  of  these  events, 
many  families  from  the  several  countries  of  Eu- 
rope which  had  adopted  the  Augsburg  Confession, 
set  out  to  seek  a  home  and  a  place  to  worship 
God,  in  the  attractive  regions  of  the  West.  First, 
and,  until  the  end  of  his  days,  most  prominent  in 
encouraging  this  movement,  stood  that  illustrious 
hero  of  our  faith,  Gustavus  Adolphus,  King  of 
Sweden.  The  statements  of  the  climate  and  the 
soil  and  the  population  of  America  that  had 
reached  him  were  such,  that,  in  his  sagacity  and 
the  comprehensiveness  of  his  spirit,  he  rapidly 
developed  a  plan  for  the  establishment  of  colonies 
in  foreign  parts,  to  which  emigrants  from  all  Eu- 
rope were  to  be  invited.  The  motives  that  mainly 
influenced  him  were  these: — the  planting  of  the 


LUTHERAN   CHURCH    IN   AMERICA.  11 

Christian  religion  amongst  the  heathen,  the  honor 
of  his  own  kingdom,  and  the  commercial  interests 
of  his  subjects. 

His  own  subjects  were  especially  interested. 
Cheered  by  the  encouraging  accounts  they  had 
received  from  the  'New  World,  many  of  the  inha- 
bitants of  Sweden  and  Finland  turned  their  long- 
ing eyes  towards  what  seemed  to  them  to  be  an 
earthly  paradise.  Their  piety,  their  enterprise, 
were  alike  engaged  and  ready  to  forsake  tlieir  kin- 
dred and  their  homes  to  brave  the  dangers  of  the 
deep,  and  so,  with  the  Divine  blessing,  to  carry 
the  intelligent  plans  of  their  sovereign  into  suc- 
cessful operation.  Startling  events,  however,  soon 
attracted  their  attention  to  another  quarter,  and 
for  a  time  their  peaceful  purposes  were  utterly  con- 
fused by  the  stern  and  relentless  demands  of  war. 
The  Protestant  princes  of  Germany,  having  been 
compelled  to  take  up  arms  in  defense  of  their  reli- 
gious rights,  placed  Gustavus  Adolphus  at  the 
head  of  their  allied  forces.  His  attention  was,  of 
course,  at  once  diverted  from  the  immediate  exe- 
cution of  his  plan  for  colonization.  Yet  he  had 
not  forgotten  it.  Only  a  few  days  before  that  glo- 
rious victory  upon  the  field  of  Llitzen,  in  the  blaze 
of  which  he  lost  his  life,  he  recommended  to  the 
people  of  Germany  the  colonial  project,  which  he 
still  regarded  as  "the  jewel  of  his  kingdom."  The 
enterprise  thus  so  fondly  contemplated  by  the 
king,  was  designed  to  open  a  safe  retreat  for  the 
good  and  defenseless  of  every  land,  to  be  a  bless- 


12  EAELY   HISTORY   OF   THE 

ing  to  the  common  man,  and  at  the  same  time, 
without  national  distinction,  to  ofier  its  advantages 
to  the  whole  Protestant  world. 

After  the  death  of  Gustavus,  the  chief  control 
of  the  undertaking  was  assumed  by  Oxenstiern, 
Prime  Minister  of  Sweden.  This  distinguished 
statesman,  eminently  fitted  for  the  post  by  his 
qualities  both  of  mind  and  heart,  urged  on  the 
work  at  once  with  the  intelligence  of  a  patriot 
and  the  zeal  of  a  Christian. 

Accordingly,  in  1637,  two  ship-loads  of  emi- 
grants from  Sweden  sail  up  Delaware  Bay.  They 
are  richly  furnished  with  provisions  for  themselves, 
with  merchandize  for  traffic  with  the  Indians,  and 
with  the  means  of  instruction  and  edification  in 
the  holy  faith  they  professed.  In  all  this  we  can 
readily  discover  the  industry  of  their  habits,  the 
integrity  of  their  purposes,  and  the  purity  of  their 
character. 

The  Dutch  having  already  settled  upon  the  east, 
the  Swedes  on  their  arrival  purchased  and  occu- 
pied the  lands  on  the  west  of  the  Delaware, 
from  its  mouth  far  up  to  the  vicinity  of  Trenton. 
Tidings  of  their  safety  and  their  pleasant  prospects 
reached  their  brethren  at  home.  Bands  of  emi- 
grants from  the  Fatherland  soon  followed,  and  ere 
long  "the  eye  of  the  stranger  could  begin  to  gaze 
with  interest  upon  the  signs  of  public  improve- 
ment, ever  regularly  advancing  from  the  region 
of  Wilmington  to  that  of  Philadelphia." 

The  power  of  Sweden  over  this  territory  ceased 


LUTHERAN   CIIURCn   IN   AMERICA.  13 

after  the  lapse  of  seventeen  years.  The  Swedish 
colonists,  whose  numbers  perhaps  never  far  ex- 
ceeded one  thousand,  were  forced  to  submit  to 
their  more  powerful  neighbors,  the  Dutch  of  the 
JSTew  I^etherlands.  So,  the  results  which  other- 
wise would  naturally  have  followed  from  this  early 
establishment  of  the  Lutheran  Church  in  America, 
were  of  course  greatly  interfered  with  by  the  civil 
and  political  disturbances  that  so  soon  elFected  the 
overthrow  of  Swedish  power. 

These  events,  however,  cannot  be  overlooked 
in  any  history  of  the  Lutheran  Church  in  America. 
The  class  of  Lutherans  of  the  present  day  that 
traces  its  descent  from  these  ancient  Swedes, 
though  retaining  the  name  of  Lutheran,  harmo- 
nizes in  doctrine  and  in  polity  with  a  church  that 
knows  not  the  Augsburg  Confession.  Their  rec- 
tors and  teachers  can  make  it  plain  enough  that 
they  inherit  the  names  and  the  blood  of  the  early 
colonists ;  but  their  total  separation  from  the  fel- 
lowship of  Lutherans,  and  the'  sportiveness  with 
which  they  can  regard  some  of  the  solemn  usages 
of  their  fathers,*  may  indicate  that,  content  with 


*  Tlie  autlior  of  the  "  Annals  of  the  Swedes,"  for  example,  in 
giving  an  account  of  an  ordination  of  a  pastor  by  three  Swedish 
ministers,  not  one  of  whom  was  a  bishop,  sees  how  utterly  at  va- 
riance this  was  with  all  the  views  and  usages  of  his  own  Episcopal 
Church.  As  the  pastor  ordained  was  to  be  sent  to  the  Lutheran 
Church  in  New  York,  Mr.  Clay  gets  over  the  difficulty  by  facetiously 
observing,  that  "perhaps  they  thought  such  orders  would  do  for 
the  Dutch." 

2 


14  EARLY   HISTORY   OF   THE 

the  name  of  the  Swedish  Church,  they  have  en- 
tirely relinquished  the  inheritance  of  its  Lutheran 
spirit. 

To  the  Lutheran  Church  in  America  that  inhe- 
ritance belongs ;  and  she  has  never  been  backward 
in  the  assertion  of  her  claim.  Those  Swedish  co- 
lonists were  Lutherans.  They  were  of  the  same 
blood  and  faith  as  the  noble  heroes  who  a  few 
years  before  had  followed  their  great  prince  in  the 
defense  of  Christian  liberty  through  the  battle- 
fields of  Europe,  and  who,  like  him,  at  last  lay 
down  in  victorious  peace  upon  the  plains  of  Llit- 
zen.  They  were  Lutherans,  bringing  the  Bible 
with  its  Sacraments,  the  Church  with  its  ministry, 
the  Augsburg  Confession  and  the  Small  Catechism, 
along  with  them.  Not  only  was  it  intended  by 
the  originators  of  the  colony  that  its  religious 
element  should  be  a  prominent  one;  but,  as  we 
learn  from  its  records  for  upwards  of  a  whole  cen- 
tury, a  commendable  zeal  was  displayed,  both 
along  the  Delaware  and  in  the  fatherland,  to  keep 
that  religious  element  true  to  its  Lutheran  type. 
To   plant  the  Christian   religion   amongst  the 

/  heathen,  was  the  first  object  contemplated  by  the 
great  Gustavus ;  and  so  the  first  establishment  of 
Lutheranism  in  America  deserves  to  be  regarded 

'  as  that  of  a  missionary  Church.  The  specific  form 
of  doctrine,  how^ever,  to  which  the  colonists  were 
bound  both  by  their  own  convictions  and  by  the 
instructions  of  the  government  at  home,  was  the 
form  expressed  in  the  familiar  words, — "upon  the 


LUTHERAN   CHURCH   IN   AMERICA.  15 

foundation  of  the  apostles  and  prophets,  according 
to  the  unaltered  Augsburg  Confession." 

In  the  royal  instructions  sent  from  Sweden  in 
1642,  by  John  Printz,  governor  of  the  colony, 
whilst  the  relations  he  should  maintain  to  all  his 
neighbors,  and  the  efforts  he  should  make  for  the 
civil  and  economical  improvement  of  the  people, 
are  minutely  specified,  the  religious,  the  Lutheran 
element  of  the  colony  is  commended  to  his  atten- 
tion, by  a  prominence  that  he  could  scarcely  have 
overlooked.  "Before  all,"  says  this  letter  of  in- 
structions, "the  governor  must  labor  and  watch 
that  he  renders  in  all  things  to  Almighty  God  the 
true  worship  which  is  his  due,  the  glory,  the  praise, 
and  the  homage  that  belongs  to  him,  and  take 
good  measures  that  the  Divine  Service  is  performed 
according  to  the  true  Confession  of  Augsburg, 
the  Council  of  Upsal,  and  the  ceremonies  of  the 
Swedish  Church,  having  care  that  all  men,  and 
especially  the  youth,  be  instructed  in  all  the  parts 
of  Christianity,  and  that  a  good  ecclesiastical  dis- 
cipline be  observed  and  maintained."* 

We  have  much  reason  to  believe  that  these  in- 
structions were  faithfully  executed  In  company 
with  Governor  Trintz,  upon  his  arrival  in  1642, 
came  also  the  Rev.  John  Campanius,  as  chaplain 
of  the  colony.  We  may  readily  infer,  from  his 
enlightened  zeal  on  behalf  of  the  Indians,  that  he 
was  diligent  and  devoted  as  the  spiritual  guide  of 

*  Hazard's  Aunals  of  Pennsylvania. 


16  EARLY   HISTORY   OF   THE 

his  own  countrymen.  His  intimacy  with  the 
neighboring  tribes  and  their  several  chiefs  was 
promoted  by  the  successive  governors  of  the  co- 
lony; and  with  the  simplicity  and  tenderness  of 
one  who  is  dealing  with  babes,  he  unfolded  before 
them  the  great  mystery  of  the  gospel,  God  mani- 
fest in  Christ,  reconciling  the  world  unto  him- 
self.* 

Encouraged  by  the  interest  they  manifested  in 
his  instructions,  he  addressed  himself  diligently 
to  the  study  of  their  language,  that  he  might  the 
more  readily  proclaim  to  them  in  their  own  tongue 
the  wonderful  works  of  God.  The  early  appear- 
ance of  Luther's  Small  Catechism,  which,  like  the 
^  Augsburg  Confession,  is  one  of  the  symbols  of 
the  Church,  translated  into  the  language  of  the 
Indians,  afforded  an  evidence  of  his  zeal  and  his 
success.  It  could  hardly  be  supposed  that  we 
should  be  indifferent  to  the  circumstances  so 
plainly  indicated  by  these  fa^ts,  that  "Lutherans 
were  the  first  missionaries  of  the  Cross,  at  least  in 
O^ji  Pennsylvania,  and  that  perhaps  the  very  first  work 
ever  translated  into  the  language  of  the  Indians 
in  America  was  Luther's  Small  Catechism. "f 

It  was  not  unusual  for  the  Swedish  pastors  to 
DC  recalled  after  a  few  years'  residence  in  the 
colony,  and  to  be  appointed  to  some  valuable 
and  honorable  post  at  home.  The  result  of 
this  w^as  many  changes  in  the  pastoral  relations, 

*  Clay's  Annals,  p.  27.  f  I^-  P-  28. 


LUTHERAN   CHURCH    IN    AMERICA.  17 

and  the  churches  at  times  were  wholly  forsaken, 
like  sheep  without  a  shepherd.  After  the  con- 
quest of  the  colony  hy  the  Dutch  in  1655,  many 
of  the  principal  men  and  families  were  violently 
removed,  intercourse  with  Sweden  was  almost 
entirely  abandoned,  and  the  congregations,  unable 
to  supply  their  pulpits  as  they  became  vacant, 
were  compelled  to  rely  for  the  conduct  of  public 
worship  upon  the  zeal  and  devotion  of  laymen 
themselves. 

Under  these  circumstances,  so  unfavorable  to 
the  growth  and  even  to  the  continuance  of  the 
Church,  we  might  suppose  that  their  religious  zeal 
would  have  become  deeply  chilled,  or  at  least  that 
their  affections  would  have  been  somewhat  re- 
moved from  the  fair  form  of  their  Lutheran  faith. 
But  their  Christian  zeal  and  their  Lutheran  affec- 
tions nobly  survived  forty  years  of  trial.  After 
the  lapse  of  that  time  subsequent  to  1655,  during 
which  they  sometimes  had  two  pastors,  sometimes 
but  one,  sometimes  none  at  all,  they  express  their 
hun2:erino;s  for  the  word  of  the  Lord,  the  preach- 
ing  of  the  gospel,  with  a  touching  importunity ; 
and  their  declarations  of  attachment  to  the  true 
Lutheran  faith  rise  to  the  high  level  of  Christian 
heroism. 

After  a  long  and  painful  interruption  of  their 
intercourse  with  Sweden,  a  friend  and  an  advocate 
was  furnished  for  ihem  in  the  person  of  John 
Thelin,  a  pious  man  of  Gottenburg.  Interested 
himself  in  their  spiritual  welfare  by  the  informa- 

2* 


18  EARLY   HISTORY   OF   THE 

tion  he  had  providentially  received,  he  was  able 
to  interest  the  court  of  Sweden  also  on  their 
behalf.  In  1692  he  addressed  them  in  a  letter  as- 
suring them  of  his  Christian  sympathy,  of  the 
willingness  of  the  King  of  Sweden  to  befriend 
them,  and  asking  to  be  more  particularly  informed 
of  their  spiritual  necessities.  Their  answer  was 
dated  May  31,  1693.  Among  other  things,  they 
state  in  reply,  ''We  heartily  desire,  since  it  hath 
pleased  his  majesty  graciously  to  regard  our  wants, 
that  there  may  be  sent  unto  us  two  Swedish  mi- 
nisters, who  are  well  learned  in  the  Holy  Scrip- 
tures, and  who  may  be  able  to  defend  them  and 
us  against  all  Mse  opposers,  so  that  we  may  pre- 
serve our  true  Lutheran  faith,  which,  if  called  to 
suffer  for  our  faith,  we  are  ready  to  seal  with  our 
blood.  We  also  request  that  those  ministers  may 
be  men  of  good  moral  lives  and  character,  so  that 
they  may  instruct  our  youth  by  their  example,  and 
lead  them  into  a  pious  and  virtuous  way  of  life.'* 
In  the  same  letter  they  request  that  books  of  de- 
votion. Bibles,  hymn-books,  catechisms,  might  be 
purchased  in  Sweden  and  forwarded  to  them,  pro- 
mising at  the  same  a  proper  maintenance  to  the 
ministers  after  they  should  arrive. 

Of  this  letter  many  copies  were  taken :  it  was 
circulated  from  hand  to  hand  in  Sweden :  it  drew 
tears  from  many  eyes.*  The  king  himself  took 
prompt  and  active  measures  to  answer  and  even 


*  Clay's  Annals,  pp.  46-47. 


LUTHERAN   CHURCH   IN   AMERICA.  19 

to  exceed  their  prayer.  The  pious  zeal  of  the 
Swedes  ou  the  Delaware  to  preserve  among  them- 
selves and  their  children  the  pure  evangelical  reli- 
gion was  highly  pleasing  to  the  monarch.  Instead 
of  two  ministers,  as  they  had  modestly  asked,  he 
sent  them  three, — the  Rev.  Messrs.  Kudman,  Biork, 
and  Auren.  Instead  of  the  few  hooks  they  had 
requested  as  a  purchase,  he  sent  them  hundreds,  as 
a  gift.  He  provided  a  vessel  for  the  passage  of  the 
ministers ;  he  furnished  them  with  large  funds  to 
meet  their  expenses ;  he  dismissed  them  in  the 
name  of  the  Lord ;  he  invoked  the  divine  hless- 
ing  upon  them ;  he  promised  never  to  forget 
them.* 

The  final  departure  of  these  ministers  from  Swe- 
den was  delayed,  for  a  short  time,  by  a  circum- 
stance that  recalls  an  interesting  fact  mentioned 
in  the  foregoing  narrative.  They  had  already 
taken  leave  of  their  friends.  They  were  about  to 
set  sail ;  but  the  failure  of  the  printer  to  furnish 
them  with  the  Indian  catechisms  forbade  the 
movement,  and  they  went  not,  until  five  hundred 
copies  of  Luther's  Small  Catechism  were  placed 
on  board. t  This  book  had  been  translated  by 
Campanius,  one  of  their  first  ministers,  about 
fifty  years  before ;  and  the  liberal  supply  granted 
to  them  on  this  occasion  shows  at  once  how  anx- 
ious the  Church  in  Sweden  was,  that  they  should 
be  diligent  as  missionaries  of  the  Cross  amongst 

*  Cl:iy'3  Annals,  p.  5G.  f  lb.  p.  54. 


20  EARLY    HISTORY    OF    THE 

the  heathen,  and,  in  all  their  instructions,  faithful 
to  'the  Symbols  of  the  Lutheran  Church.* 

During  all  this  time,  and  subsequently,  the  en- 
terprise and  the  benevolence  of  the  Swedes  was 
,  exercised,  to  a  commendable  degree,  in  the  erection 
1  of  churches  at  suitable  points.     Fort  Christina,  on 
j  Christina  Creek,  where  their  first  settlement  was 
j  made  in  1638, f  Tinicum,J  selected  as  the  residence 
I  of   Governor  Printz  in   1646,  and   Philadelphia, 
/  which  Mr.  Biork  considered,  in  1697,  as  a  "clever 
little  town,"  were  the  chief  places  of  their  solemn 
assemblies.     It  will  accord  best  with  the  brevity 
to  which  we  are  bound,  and  be  quite  sufficient  for 
our  purpose,  if  we  confine  ourselves  more  parti- 
cularly to  a  notice  of  the  place  last  specified. 

The  city  of  Philadelphia  was  founded  by  Wil- 
liam Penn  in  1683.  The  movements  of  William 
Penn  in  locating  his  city  were  opposed  by  the 
Swedes,  who  were  the  owners  of  the  soil.     But 


*  A  copy  of  this  book  is  to  be  seen  in  the  Philadelphia  Library. 
It  is  ia  Indian  and  Swedish, — the  languages  alternating.  It  con- 
tains every  thing  usually  found  in  the  old  German  editions, — the  five 
principal  parts,  the  doctrine  of  confession,  tables  of  duties,  and  the 
very  prayers.  Appended  to  it  is  a  vocabulary  of  Indian  words  and 
phrases,  which,  with  the  catechism,  makes  a  volume  of  one  hundred 
and  sixty  pages,  duodecimo.  The  Swedish  portion  is  printed  in 
German  and  the  Indian  in  Roman  characters.  It  is  dated  1696,  and 
both  for  paper  and  for  type  seems  to  have  been  put  forth  in  liberal 
style.  The  pages  of  the  Catechism  itself  number  one  hundred  and 
thirty-five. 

f  Now  the  city  of  Wilmington,  Delaware. 

X  Now  the  Lazaretto,  twelve  miles  below  Philadelphia. 


LUTHERAN   CHURCH   IN   AMERICA.  21 

his  conciliatory  manner,  his  kind  promises,  per- 
haps enforced  by  a  reference  to  the  weight  of 
royal  authority  which  he  might  call  to  his  aid, 
and,  above  all,  the  liberal  exchanges  of  land  which 
he  proposed,  disarmed  their  opposition,  and  they 
acquiesced  in  the  plans  of  the  great  founder  of 
Philadelphia. 

The  stream  of  intercourse  between  the  Swedes 
and  William  Penn  ran  smoothly.  If  we  refer  to 
the  fact  that  an  occasional  obstruction  disturbed 
the  peaceful  current,  it  may  serve  to  show  more 
clearly  what  strong  claims  each  part}^  had  to  the 
respect  and  consideration  of  the  other.  Their 
character  and  bearing  were  such  as  to  draw  from 
him,  on  several  occasions,  a  manly  testimony  in 
their  favor.  They  received  him  kindly,  a-s  they 
always  had,  the  few  English  who  preceded  him. 
Their  respect  to  authority,  and  their  kind  behavior 
to  his  own  countrymen,  he  had  to  commend.  He 
had  seen  few  young  men  more  sober  and  indus- 
trious than  they  could  show.  He  had  met  with 
few  families  more  interesting  than  those  of  Swedish 
name. 

Penn's  dealings  with  the  Indians  have  obtained 
such  a  record  in  history  as  to  command  the  praise 
of  Christians  in  every  land.  Under  the  shade  of 
the  large  elm-tree  in  Shakamaxon,  the  chiefs  of 
the  Algonquin  race  were  captivated  by  the  sim- 
plicity and  sincerity  of  his  manners,  and  by  the 
language  of  pure  aftection  in  which  he  addressed 
them.     "We  will  live,"  said  they,  "in  love  with 


22  EARLY   HISTORY   OF   THE 

William  Penii  and  liis  children,  and  with  his  chil- 
dren's children,  as  long  as  the  moon  and  sun  en- 
dure."* It  should  be  remembered,  however,  that 
Penn's  intercourse  with  the  Indians  had  been  pre- 
ceded by  the  Christian  labors  of  pious  Lutherans, 
and  that,  for  forty  years,  these  sons  of  the  forest 
had  been  accustomed  to  hear  the  truths  and  to  dis- 
cern the  principles  of  the  gospel,  proceeding  from 
the  lips  and  exemplified  in  the  lives  of  Europeans. 
Along  with  all  the  civil  intercourse  between  the 
Indians  and  the  Swedes,  there  ran  a  line  of  spirit- 
ual sympathy,  which,  having  begun  in  the  time  of 
Campanius,  was  afterwards  greatly  strengthened 
in  the  days  of  Biork  and  Rudman.  It  was  by 
such  influences,  long  and  steadily  operating  to 
subdue  the  passions  and  to  conciliate  the  feelings 
of  savage  men,  that  the  way  was  made  straight  for 
the  successful  application  of  the  plans  of  the  great 
philanthropist. 

Half  a  mile  below  the  southern  limits  of  the 
city  of  Penn,  stood  the  Swedish  Church  of  Wicaco. 
Having  been  built  in  1669,  it  had  been  the  scene 
of  gospel  ceremonies  and  of  Christian  devotion 
for  several  years  before  the  arrival  of  the  English 
colonists.  It  was,  indeed,  originally  erected  by  the 
command  of  the  Government,  as  a  block-house,  or 
place  of  defense  against  the  Indians ;  but  the 
Lutherans,  as  though  they  relied  more  upon  the 
weapons  of  a  spiritual  than  upon  those  of  a  carnal 

*  Baircl's  Religion  in  America,  p.  70, 


LUTHERAN    CHURCH    IN   AMERICA.  23 

warfare,  converted  the  fort  into  a  church,  and  in 
IGTT  called  the  Rev.  Jacob  Fabritius  as  its  pastor.* 

Thus,  for  five  years  before  the  arrival  of  William 
Penn,  the  gospel  had  been  preached,  its  solemn 
ordinances  had  been  administered,  and  the  voice 
of  rejoicing  and  salvation  had  been  heard  proceed- 
ing from  the  tabernacles  of  Zion,  frequented  by 
zealous  Lutherans,  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of 
what  was  afterwards  the  scene  of  his  celebrated 
treaty.  "With  the  Indians,  the  Swedes  were  wont  to 
live  in  much  greater  friendship  than  with  the  Eng- 
lish themselves. t  There  is  every  reason  to  believe, 
that  they  never  forgot  their  obligations  to  endeavor 
to  bring  them  into  the  marvellous  light  of  the 
truth;  and  the  efiect  of  all  these  circumstances, 
in  calming  and  controlling  the  feelings  of  the  In- 
dians in  their  intercourse  with  white  men,  it  were 
vain  to  question.  Though  we  would  not  detract, 
in  the  least,  from  the  merited  praise  of  William 
Penn,  yet  we  may  honestly  claim  that  to  the 
Lutheran  Church  belonged  the  part  of  pioneer  in 
the  management  of  a  treaty  which,  for  its  purity 
and  integrity,  has,  above  all  others,  a  world-wide, 
an  everlasting  fame. 

It  was  at  an  early  period  of  their  ministry  that 
Biork  and  Rudman  began  to  agitate  the  subject 
of  church-erection.  With  little  money  and  with 
strong  faith,  a  substantial  building  was  commenced 


*  Clay's  Annals,  p.  37. 

f  Mr.  Biork's  Letter  in  1G97 ;  Clay's  Annals,  p.  G7. 


24  EARLY   HISTORY   OF   THE 

J  at  Christina  in  1698 ;  and  on  Trinity  Sunday,  1699, 
the  church  was  consecrated  to  the  service  of  Al- 
^  mighty  God.  When  the  work  began  at  Christina, 
there  was  a  similar  eflbrt  at  "Wicaco ;  but,  in  con- 
sequence of  a  difference  of  sentiment  as  to  the 
proper  location  of  the  church,  no  progress  was 
made  for  upwards  of  a  year.  The  difficulty,  how- 
ever, having  been  removed,  the  erection  of  the 
new  church  was  commenced,  on  the  site  of  the 
old  church  or  block-house  of  1669.  On  the  first 
Sunday  after  Trinity,  in  the  year  1700,  in  the  pre- 
sence of  a  large,  promiscuous  assembly,  and  by  so- 
lemn acts  of  devotion,  this  church  was  consecrated 
to  the  service  of  God  and  the  preaching  of  his 
I  word.  By  their  zeal  and  enterprise,  as  displayed 
[  in  the  erection  of  these  two  churches,  the  Lu- 
therans had  distinguished  themselves  and  com- 
manded the  admiration  of  their  wealthier  English 
neighbors.  Their  dimensions,  the  convenience  of 
their  internal  arrangements,  the  tasteful  simplicity 
of  their  adornments,  elicited,  in  that  early  day,  the 
meed  of  praise  which  is  now  lavished  only  upon  the 
sacred  temple  where  the  costly  perfections  of  art 
and  skill  combine  to  excite  all  the  feelings  of  awe 
and  veneration.  The  English  inhabitants,  having 
been  interested  in  the  progress  of  the  churches  at 
"Wicaco  and  Christina,  continued,  long  after  their 
consecration,  to  gaze  upon  them  with  wonder. 
The  fame  of  them  was  noised  abroad  to  neighbor- 
ing provinces.  Strangers,  visiting  the  region  of 
the  Delaware,  walked  round  about  these  walls  of 


LUTHERAN   CHURCH   IN   AMERICA.  25 

Zlon,  and,  with  respectful  mien,  wove  pleased  to 
enter  lier  sacred  courts.  Even  the  Governors  of 
Maryland  and  Virginia, — Mcholson  and  Black- 
stone, — attended  by  their  respective  suites,  were 
gratified  on  the  occasion  of  seeing  with  their  own 
eyes  these  noble  monuments  of  Christian  zeal  and 
of  Lutheran  enterprise.* 

It  was  through  this  church  at  Wicaco,  that  the 
principal  stream  of  communication  ran  between 
the  Swedes  and  the  other  adherents  of  the  Lu- 
theran faith  in  America. 

The  close  of  the  seventeenth  and  the  beginning 
of  the  eighteenth  century  brought  large  additions 
to  the  number  of  Lutherans.  The  emis^ration  was 
especially  strong  between  the  years  1708  and  1720. 
Persecuted  inhabitants  of  the  Palatinate,  rejoicing 
in  the  favor  and  sympathy  of  Queen  Anne,  flocked 
together  by  thousands  upon  the  shores  of  Eng- 
land. They  were  fed  there  and  clothed  by  the 
royal  bounty.  They  were  edified  by  the  spiritual 
attentions  of  preachers  of  the  court;  and  when  the 
day  of  their  departure  arrived,  four  thousand  Ger- 
mans at  once  found  accommodations  upon  ten 
ships  prepared  for  a  voyage  to  the  Western  World.f 
The  immediate  history  of  these  emigrants,  who 
landed  in  N'ew  York,  June  13,  1710,  belongs  to 
another  branch  of  our  subject.  Though  the  main 
body  attempted  to  settle  in  the  interior  of  ^ew 
York,  the  proportion  that  came  at  once  to  the 


V 


Clay's  Annals,  p.  83.  f  Ilalle  Reports,  p.  473. 


f/J 


26  EABLY    HISTORY   OF    THE 

province  of  Pennsylvania  was  not  a  small  one. 
These  emigrants,  'tis  true,  contributed  nothing  of 
any  direct  value  in  the  establishment  of  the  Church. 
Without  religious  teachers  to  instruct  and  build 
them  up  in  the  faith  of  the  gospel,  surrounded  by 
sects  which,  though  small,  were  contentious,  and 
too  much  engrossed  by  the  cares  of  this  life,  they 
served,  at  best,  only  as  pioneers  to  prepare  the 
way  for  their  brethren  who  were  soon  to  follow.* 

This  service  they  eflectually  rendered.  The 
Bible,  the  hymn-book,  and  Arndt's  True  Chris- 
tianity, with  which  they  had  been  generously  fur- 
nished by  the  munificence  of  friends  in  England, 
enlivening  the  hours  of  their  rest  and  their  devo- 
tion, still  bound  them  to  the  faith  of  their  fathers ; 
and  when  the  tide  of  emigration  began  again  to 
flow,  it  was  towards  the  province  chosen  by  these 
earlier  emigrants  that  its  current  was  directed. 

The  Lutheran  families  that  arrived  during  this 
next  period  of  emigration  between  1720  and  1740 
were  both  numerous  and  hearty  in  their  attach- 
ment to  the  Church.  From  the  Palatinate,  from 
Wurtemberg,  from  Darmstadt,  from  other  portions 
of  Germany,  they  came,  having  one  Lord,  one 
faith,  one  baptism.  Many  of  them  sought  and 
found  a  home  in  Philadelphia  and  its  vicinity,  and, 
although  unable  in  their  poverty  either  to  build 
church  or  school-house,  or  even  to  secure  the 
ground  for  such  an  object,  they  nevertheless  main- 

*  Halle  Reports,  p.  GG6. 


LUTHERAN   CHURCH    IN   AMERICA.  27 

tained  the  unity  of  the  faith,  and  hopefully  awaited 
a  more  prosperous  day. 

Upon  the  arrival  of  Henry  Melchior  Muhlenherg 
in  1742,  he  found  the  Lutheran  Church  of  the   I 
Germans  in  Philadelphia  in  the  hahit  of  holding   ) 
public  worship  in  a  small  house  that  had  been  / 
rented  for  tho  purpose.     The  interest  awakened 
by  his  appeariince  amongst  them  was  such,  that  in 
a  short  time  this  house  was  altogether  too  small 
to  accommodate  the  growing  crowds.     The  Lu- 
theran Church  of  the   Swedes  was  generously  of- 
fered for  the  use  of  the  Germans ;  and  so  it  hap- 
pened, that  the  consecrated  walls  within  which 
the  father  of  the  Lutheran   Church  in  America    \/ 
first  proclaimed  the  unsearchable  riches  of  Christ 
were  those  of  the  Swedes  at  Wicaco.*     Upon  a 
set  day  in  this  church  there  was  a  novel  and  at- 
tractive ceremony,  refreshing  doubtless  to  many  a 
w^eary  heart,  and  sanctioned  by  the  holy  offices  of 
religion.     The  Swedes  and  the  Germans  were  ga- 
thered together.     Muhlenberg  presented  his  testi- 
monials  and   letters   of    recommendation.      The 
senior  pastor  of  the  Swedes  opened  and  read  them  in 
the  hearing  of  al!  the  people ;  and  there,  in  the  midst 
of  songs  of  praise  and  fervent  prayer,  Muhlenberg         / 
was   solemnly  installed  as  regular  pastor  of  the 
German  Lutherans  in  and  around  Philadelphia.f 

A  union  of  hands  between  the  poorer  Germans 
and  the  more  prosperous  Swedes,  apparently  so 


*  HaUe  Reports,  p.  717.  f  lb.  p.  G7L 


28  EARLY   HISTORY   OF   THE 

earnest  and  sincere  as  tins,  might  well  suggest  the 
thought  that  there  must  also  have  been  a  unity 
of  heart,  all  the  goodly,  pleasant  fellowship  of 
brethren.  Such  in  truth  there  was;  and  it  is  this 
and  the  long  continuance  of  it  that  justifies  us  in 
the  belief,  that  the  early  progress  of  the  Swedish  con- 
gregations, now  separated  though  they  be,  belongs 
to  the  history  of  the  Lutheran  Church  in  America. 

With  such  a  beginning,  we  might  expect  to  find 
Muhlenberg,  though  the  pastor  of  the  Germans, 
moving  freely  and  figuring  largely  among  the 
Swedes.  And  when  we  find  them,  in  their  pros- 
perous settlements  along  the  Schuylkill,  clustering 
around  him  and  begging  him,  with  tears  in  their 
eyes,  to  visit  them  and  preach  to  them  upon  the 
Lord's  day, — when  we  see  him  administer  the  holy 
Sacraments  in  their  devout  assemblies, — when  w^e 
hear  them  testify,  with  joyful  hearts,  that  these  im- 
pressive scenes  reminded  them  of  apostolic  times,* 
— ^^ve  have  no  difiiculty  in  concluding,  that  the 
Swedes  and  the  Germans  of  this  earlier  period 
w^ere  one  united  family  in  all  the  completeness  of 
Christian  fellowship. 

The  fruits  of  Muhlenberg's  pastoral  fidelity,  and 
of  the  adherence  of  the  Swedes  to  the  doctrine 
and  order  of  the  Lutheran  Church,  began  in  due 
time  to  ripen.  In  the  year  1759,.  there  arrived 
from  Sweden  a  young  man  duly  accredited  as 
provost  or  chief  pastor  of  the  Swedish  churches. 

*  Ilalle  Reports,  pp.  2G7-278. 


LUTHERAN    CHURCH    IN    AMERICA.  29 

This  was  Charles  Magnus  Wrangel,  of  whom  wo  ^ 
may  say,  in  relation  to  the  other  Swedish  pastors, 
that  in  gifts,  in  labors,  and  in  success,  he  was  not 
a  whit  behind  them.  He  preached  the  word  of 
the  Lord,  and  the  dry  bones  lived.  He  attracted 
the  young;  he  aroused  and  quickened  the  old. 
Crowds,  drawn  by  his  captivating  eloquence, 
thronged  around  him  in  the  open  air.  He  was 
wholly  given  to  the  work.  He  seemed  as  one  re- 
solved to  make  full  proof  of  his  ministry ;  and  his 
brethren,  for  whom  Muhlenberg  himself  testifies, 
thought  that  a  special  blessing  rested  upon  his 
labors  and  a  special  providence  protected  his  life.* 
They  persuaded  themselves,  indeed,  that  they 
could  trace  in  him  certain  features  of  resemblance 
to  the  Great  Apostle ;  for  at  times  he  also  had  a 
thorn  in  the  flesh,  lest  he  might  be  exalted  above 
measure;  and  again,  when  persecutions  abounded 
and  the  cross  had  grown  heavy,  some  new  triumpli 
was  granted  to  him,  lest  he  might  be  swallowed 
up  with  sorrow.*  His  personal  demeanor  Avas 
marked  by  the  graces  of  simplicity  and  gentleness, 
and  his  conversation  was  richly  instructive  to  all 
who  might  be  interested  in  the  things  of  the  king- 
dom of  God.f 

The  intercourse  between  Muhlenberg  and 
"Wrangel,  frequent  and  cordial  as  it  was,  was  at 
the  same  time  both  the  cause  and  the  eftect  of  a 
corresponding  fellowship  between  the  German  and 

*  Ilalle  Reports,  p.  852.  f  lb.  p.  Sol. 


30  EARLY    HISTORY    OF   THE 

the  Swedish  Churches.  As  being  parts  of  one 
and  the  same  Evangelical  Lutheran  Church,  what 
could  have  separated  them  ?  The  diiference  of 
their  languages  was  no  stronger  element  of  dis- 
union then,  than  has  been  the  difference  between 
the  German  and  the  English  of  later  generations; 
and,  with  these  two  languages  prevailing  in  her 
borders  until  the  present  day,  no  sound  head  has 
ever  contemplated  the  project  of  a  division  of  the 
Lutheran  Church  upon  the  principle  of  speech. 
Her  glory  might  be,  that  even  unto  this  day  she 
possesses  and  exercises  the  gift  of  tongues,  through- 
out the  Union  and  the  adjacent  colonies.  She  holds 
on  to  the  stirring  Saxon  of  the  great  Eeformer: 
when  occasion  requires,  she  preaches  the  gospel 
and  administers  its  sacraments  in  the  languages  of 
Holland  and  of  France ;  whilst  the  English,  the 
Swedish,  and  the  ISTorwegian  are  the  ordinary  forms 
in  which  she  declares  the  w^hole  counsel  of  God. 
Thus  diverse  in  her  gifts,  she  yet  continues  one  in 
the  integrity  of  her  faith  and  the  activity  of  her 
benevolence.  On  the  ground  of  language,  then, 
there  could  have  been  no  separation  between  the 
Germans  and  the  Swedes  in  the  days  of  "Wrangel 
and  of  Muhlenberg. 

Nor  could  they  have  been  separated  upon  the 
principle  of  any  fundamental  distinction  in  eccle- 
siastical polity.  The  Church  in  Sw^eden,  'tis  true, 
has  somewhat  of  an  Episcopal  Constitution;  but 
this  episcopacy  is  maintained  upon  the  ground  of 
convenience,  of  political  expediency,  and  not,  as  is 


LUTHERAN  CHURCH  IN  AMERICA.       31 

the  Episcopacy  of  England,  upon  the  assumed 
principle  of  apostolic  succession. 

As  though  they  regarded  episcopacy  as  a  mere 
matter  of  expediency,  belonging  only  to  an  esta- 
blished Church  and  to  a  monarchical  government, 
the  Swedish  pastors  and  churches  in  America  seem 
to  have  been  ready  to  ignore  it  from  the  beginning. 
In  the  year  1691,  apprehending,  from  the  infirmi- 
ties of  his  old  age,  that  their  venerable  pastor  Fa- 
britius  might  soon  be  removed  from  his  labors, 
they  addressed  an  earnest  appeal  to  the  Lutheran 
Consistory  in  Amsterdam,  supplicating  them,  in 
consideration  of  their  "happy  fellowship  in  the 
Lutheran  communion,"  to  ordain  and  send  to  them 
some  faithful  Swedish  student,  qualified  to  minis- 
ter in  holy  things.  The  ordination  thus  solicited 
Tvas  that  of  the  Lutheran  Church,  disclaiming  the 
lofty  pretensions  of  apostolic  succession,  concern- 
ing which  they  do  not  seem  to  have  entertained  a 
thought.* 

Shortly  after  the  beginning  of  the  last  centurj^, 
three  of  their  most  eminent  pastors — E,ev.  Messrs. 
Eudman,  Biork,  and  Sandel — ordained  3 \x^i\\^  Falk- 
ner,  in  the  church  at  Wicaco  ;t  and  in  the  month 
of  August,  1748,  the  Swedish  pastors  Sandin  and 
IS'"esman  united  with  the  Germans,  Muhlenberg, 
Hartwich,  Brunnholtz,  and  Handschuh,  at  a  meet- 
ing of  synod  in  St.  Michael's  Church,  Philadelphia, 
in  the  ordination  of  Kurtz  to  the  gospel  ministry, 

*  Clay's  Annals,  pp.  38,  137  f  lb.  p.  8G. 


32  EARLY    HISTORY    OF   THE 

by  tlie  laying  on  of  bands.*  In  a  word,  tbeir 
uniform  doctrine  upon  tbis  subject  seems  to  bave 
barmonized  fully  witb  tbe  representations  wbicb 
Dr.  Collin  was  wont  to  give  to  tbe  Lutberans  of 
Pbiladelpbia,  in  bis  day.  Tbe  amount  of  bis  tes- 
timony was,  tbat  wbilst  tbe  people  of  Sweden 
would  no  doubt  prefer  to  bave  bisbops  placed  over 
tbe  Cburcb  as  a  matter  of  convenience  or  expe- 
diency, yet  no  one  would  ever  tbink  of  putting 
fortb  in  tbeir  bebalf  tbe  claim  of  divine  rigbt  or 
apostolic  succession.f 

Tbe  Swedes  and  tbe  Germans,  tben,  were  truly 
one  Lutberan  Cburcb, — bolding  tbe  unity  of  tbe 
Spirit  in  tbe  bonds  of  peace.  Wben  we  study  tbe 
Cbristian  fellowsbip  tbat  subsisted  between  Mub- 
lenberg  and  Wrangel,  we  discover  tbat,  tbougb 
somewbat  more  intense,  it  was  nevertbeless  only 
upon  a  smaller  scale  tban  tbe  fellowsbip  between 
tbe  cburcbes  tbemselves.  Tbese  men  were  botb 
learned,  laborious,  and  devout.  Tbeir  zeal  was 
intelligent  and  aggressive ;  and  tbe  effect  of  tbeir 
intimate  association  was  to  encourage  Ibemselves 
and  tbeir  people  to  faitb  and  good  works. 

Tbe  bistory  of  a  few  days  will  answer  as  a  sketcb 
of  tbeir  intercourse  for  years.  On  tbe  Lord's 
day,  July  26,  1761,  in  tbe  afternoon,  Mublenberg 

*  Hallo  Reports,  p.  111. 

I  My  authority  for  this  is  a  venerable .  pastor  of  the  Lutheran 
Church  in  Philadelphia,  who,  after  a  ministry  in  that  city  of  fifty 
years,  still  retains  in  a  remarkable  way  the  laborious  zeal  and  the 
intellectual  vigor  of  his  early  days. 


LUTHERAN    CHURCH    IN   AMERICA.  33 

preaches  English  in  one  of  the  Swedish  congrega- 
tions, and  returns  through  a  heavy  rain  to  AVicaco. 
Late  at  night  Wrangel  comes  hack  to  Wicaco,  wet 
and  sick,  from  Jersey.  The  next  day  they  ride  to 
the  residence  of  Pastor  Handschuh,  and,  accom- 
panied hy  elders  and  members  of  the  church,  and 
the  children  and  teachers  of  the  congregational 
school,  they  walk  in  procession  to  the  new  school- 
house  of  the  Germans,  and  solemnly  consecrate 
it.  In  the  afternoon,  Muhlenberg,  Wrangel,  and 
Handschuh,  edify  themselves  in  the  residence  of 
the  latter  with  the  word  of  God  and  with  prayer. 
On  Tuesday,  Muhlenberg  and  Wrangel  visit  some 
Christian  friends  together,  and  are  much  refreshed 
in  spirit  by  their  godly  conversation.  At  night 
they  arrive  at  Wicaco,  and  there  remain.  The 
next  day  they  set  out  to  pay  pastoral  visits  in  the 
Swedish  congregations,  and,  after  a  day  of  physical 
toil  but  of  spiritual  joy,  they  arrive  at  the  resi- 
dence of  Mr.  John  Tailor,  one  of  the  proprietors 
of  Tinicum.  This  man  had  been  a  Quaker  or 
Friend ;  but,  having  been  instructed  by  Wrangel 
in  the  doctrines  and  sacraments  of  the  gospel,  he 
had  been  baptized.  The  Lord  had  opened  his 
heart,  and,  in  the  spirit  of  Lydia,  he  opened  his 
liouse  to  the  man  of  God  who  had  shown  him 
the  way  of  salvation.  With  Tailor  and  his  believ- 
ing wife  they  remain ;  and  thc}^  edify  themselves 
with  Christian  converse  and  with  prayer  until  the 
hour  of  retiring.  On  Thursday  they  visit  the  old 
graveyard  at  Tinicum,  and  gaze  thoughtfully  upon 


34  EARLY   HISTORY   OF    THE 

the  memorials  of  the  ancient  Swedes,  and  upon  the 
ruins  of  the  first  Christian  church  erected  in  these 
Western  wilds.  At  noon  Muhlenberg  preaches  to 
an  attentive  congregation;  and  in  the  afternoon 
they  take  part  in  a  meeting  called  for  the  purpose 
of  devising  measures  to  erect  a  new  church.  At 
this  meeting  Muhlenberg  and  Wrangel  are  chosen 
as  trustees.  In  the  evening  they  return  to  Wran- 
gel's  residence  at  AYicaco.*  We  can  scarcely  re- 
frain from  continuing  this  interesting  record, 
revealing  as  it  does  the  pastoral  fidelity,  the  per- 
sonal piety,  the  fraternal  harmony  of  these  noble 
men.  We  follow  it  up  a  little  further,  and  we  find 
them  meeting  on  the  next  Sunday  evening  again 
at  Wicaco,  both  exhausted  by  the  labors  of  the 
day,  and  both  seeking  to  refresh  their  spirits  at  the 
fountain  of  mercy.  We  look  again,  and  we  see 
how,  after  the  arduous  duties  of  the  following 
Tuesday  morning,  Wrangel  is  pleased  to  accom- 
pany Muhlenberg  from  house  to  house  in  the  after- 
noon, for  the  purpose  of  conversing  and  praying 
with  awakened  and  inquiring  souls. f 

In  this  fraternal  union  the  other  pastors  and  the 
congregations  of  the  Swedes  and  Germans  largely 
shared.  Being  of  one  mind  in  regard  to  the 
Symbols  of  the  Lutheran  faith,  and  bound  by  those 
symbols  only  to  the  doctrines  of  the  word  of  God, 
they  required  no  foreign  influences  to  unite  and 
cement  them  together.     But  the  authorities  of  the 

*  Ilalle  Reports,  p.  8G7.  f  lb.  p.  869. 


LUTHERAN   CnURCH   IN   AMERICA.  35 

Church  in  Sweden,  hearing  of  this  fellowship,  felt 
themselves  called  upon  to  applaud  and  encourage 
it.  On  Monday,  Scptemher  15,  1760,  the  Provost 
Wrangel  opened  a  regular  Conference  of  Swedish 
pastors  in  the  church  at  Wicaco.  Muhlenberg, 
having  been  personally  invited  by  Dr.  Wrangel, 
was  also  present.  The  first  matter  laid  before  the 
Conference  was  the  letter  of  instructions  from  the 
Archbishop  of  Upsal,  the  highest  dignitary  of  the 
Church  in  Sweden.  In  this  letter,  among  other 
things,  it  was  ordained  that  the  Swedish  pastors 
should  to  the  fullest  extent  co-operate  with  the 
German  Lutheran  Ministerium  in  brotherly  love 
and  Christian  harmony ;  that  the  Swedes  should 
attend  the  synodical  meetings  of  the  Germans,  and 
invite  the  Germans  to  participate  in  their  solemn 
conventions,  in  order  that  the  welfare  of  the  whole 
Church  might  be  thus  promoted.  Observing  the 
hearty  acquiescence  of  the  Swedes  in  this  arrange- 
ment, Muhlenberg  arose,  and  on  behalf  of  the 
German  Ministerium  returned  thanks  for  the  inte- 
rest that  the  archbishop  had  been  pleased  to  ex- 
press in  the  welfare  of  the  Church  in  America; 
announcing  at  the  same  time  his  joyful  hope  that 
by  such  a  union  its  prosperity,  under  the  divine 
blessing,  might  be  secured.* 

Among  the  transactions  of  the  same  Conference, 
great  prominence  was  given,  and  as  a  matter  of 
history  is  still  due,  to  another  measure,  that  was 

^  Halle  Reports,  p.  852. 


36  EARLY    HISTORY    OF    THE 

intended  to  protect  the  Swedish  pastors  and  their 
congregations  against  a  certain  catastrophe,  in 
which  by  the  force  of  circumstances  they  became 
after  a  few  years  involved. 

Here  and  there,  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Swedes, 
might  be  found  some  congregations,  larger  or 
smaller,  composed  of  members  of  the  Episcopal 
Church  of  England,  more  or  less  organized.  The 
nominal  Episcopacy  of  the  Lutheran  Church  in 
Sweden  appeared  to  these  High-Church  Episco- 
palians a  sufficient  reason  for  acknowledging  the 
validity  of  the  acts  of  the  Swedish  pastors,  in  the 
absence  of  rectors  of  their  own  order.  In  their 
desire  for  the  ministry  of  the  word,  they  held  out 
honorable  inducements  to  the  Swedish  pastors  to 
minister  at  their  altars ;  and  the  willingness  of  the 
Swedes  to  preach  the  gospel  to  every  creature  in- 
clined them,  at  times,  to  give  ear  to  these  solicita- 
tions. The  whole  subject  was  brought  to  the 
attention  of  the  Conference,  and  a  rule  was  esta- 
blished that  the  Swedish  pastors  should  not  be 
moved  by  pecuniary  considerations  to  take  charge 
of  any  Episcopal  church,  since  a  faithful  ministry 
amongst  their  own  people  would  occupy  all  their 
time.  Could  they,  however,  by  a  diligent  use 
of  their  time,  occasionally  visit  these  English 
churches  and  serve  them  with  the  means  of 
grace,  according  to  the  doctrine  and  order  of  the 
Lutheran  Church,  it  would  then  be  proper,  upon 
the  principle  of  Christian  love,  that  they  should 


LUTHERAN    CHURCH    IN   AMERICA.  37 

pay  some  attention  to  certain  specified  Episcopal 
parishes.* 

Strangely  enough,  history  has  to  record  the  sub- 
sequent marshalling  of  all  these  Swedish  churches 
under  the  banner  of  English  Episcopacy ;  but  it 
is  due  to  them  to  observe,  that  this  swerving  from 
the  faith  and  order  of  the  Lutheran  Church  was  a 
movement  against  which  they  seem  to  have  been 
anxious  to  protect  themselves,  by  deliberate  and 
solemn  enactments.  They  were  bound  only  to 
the  Brethren  of  the  Augsburg  Confession ;  and 
when  occasionally  ministering  amongst  their  Epis- 
copal neighbors,  they  acknowledged  their  obli- 
gations to  contend  for  the  faith  only  under  the 
Symbols  of  Lutheranism. 

At  the  conclusion  of  this  Conference,  it  was 
advised  that  a  meeting  of  the  German  pastors 
should  be  convened  at  an  early  day,  in  order  that 
the  existing  condition  of  the  wdiole  Church  might 
be  ascertained.  As  to  the  time,  the  month  of 
October  was  agreed  upon ;  and  Providence,  now 
called  "The  Trappe,"  in  Montgomery  county,  the 
residence  of  Muhlenberg,  was  fixed  as  the  place. f 

Accordingly,  on  the  18th  of  October,  1760,  the 
Conference  met.  There  were,  amongst  others, 
Muhlenberg  and  Wrangel,  Gerock,  of  Lancaster, 
and  Ilausile,  of  Reading,  the  two  Kurtzes,  Schaum, 
and  Ilandschuh.     The  next  day  was  the  Lord's 

*  Halle  Reports,  p.  853.  f  Ibid. 

4 


38  EARLY   HISTORY    OF    THE 

day.  Germans  and  Swedes  alike  thronged  to- 
gether from  a  region  many  miles  around,  to  par- 
take in  the  rare  privileges  of  the  occasion.  The 
Lord  blessed  the  provision  of  his  house,  and  filled 
his  poor  with  bread. 

Upon  the  conclusion  of  the  morning  and  after- 
noon services,  the  assembled  pastors  retired  to  the 
parsonage,  and  united  in  converse  touching  holy 
things.  They  discussed  the  elements  of  a  broken 
and  truly  contrite  heart,  of  faith,  and  of  righteous- 
ness. They  drew  near  to  each  other,  interchanging 
the  results  of  self-examination  and  personal  expe- 
rience of  the  grace  of  God,  until  their  very  hearts 
throbbed  with  holy  joj.  In  the  evening,  and  in 
the  same  place,  they  lifted  up  the  voice  of  praise, 
they  sang  their  favorite  hymns,  they  accompanied 
themselves  with  an  instrument  of  music,  they  con- 
versed about  the  internal  affairs  of  their  congrega- 
tions, they  prolonged  and  varied  the  soul-stirring 
melodies,  they  noticed  not  the  passage  of  the  swift- 
winged  hours,  and  the  clock  struck  three  at  night 
before  they  thought  of  resigning  nature  to  its 
repose.* 

One  of  the  most  active  members  of  this  Con- 
ference was  the  Swedish  provost,  "Wrangel ;  and 
the  first  business  brought  before  it  was  a  matter 
in  which  Wrangel  had  taken  a  very  prominent 
part.  A  certain  Paul  Bryzelius,  a  3'Oung  man,  a 
native  of  Sweden,  well  educated,  of  good  parts, 

""■  Halle  Repoi-ts,  p.  855. 


LUTHERAN    CHURCH    IN    AMERICA.  39 

and  of  upright  character,  having  been  brought 
under  the  influence  of  some  who  were  not  friendly 
to  the  Lutheran  Church,  appeared  to  be  acting  as 
their  instrument  in  an  attempt  to  draw  ofl"  the 
Swedish  church  at  Racoon,  in  N'ew  Jersey,  from 
the  Lutheran  communion  to  that  of  his  patrons. 
Wrangel  had  approached  him  in  the  name  and 
with  the  word  of  the  Lord.  Bryzelius  saw  his 
error,  was  convinced,  repented  of  it,  and,  under  the 
advice  of  Wrangel,  appeared  before  the  Conference 
with  a  prayer  for  admission  into  the  fellowship  of 
the  Lutheran  Church.  After  a  thorough  examina- 
tion of  the  case  before  the  Ministerium,  Brj'zelius 
declared,  in  writing,  that,  having  been  thoroughly 
convinced  of  his  error  and  having  heartily  aban- 
doned it,  he  solemnly  bound  himself,  upon  his 
admission  into  the  Ministerium  of  the  Swedes 
and  German  Lutherans  of  Pennsylvania,  to  teach 
nothing  but  what  is  based  upon  the  word  of  God, 
to  conform,  in  all  his  ministrations,  to  our  Sym- 
bolical Books,  and  to  comply  with  the  order  of 
the  said  Ministerium.  This  document  w^as  signed, 
in  the  presence  of  the  Ministerium,  by  Bryzelius 
himself,  and  by  Muhlenberg,  Wrangel,  and  Ge- 
rock,  as  witnesses.  The  whole  ceremony  was 
appropriately  terminated  w^ith  prayer  that  the 
brother  thus  restored  to  the  Church  might,  by  the 
grace  of  God,  be  an  instrument  for  bringing  many 
souls  to  the  Saviour  of  the  world.* 

*  Halle  Reports,  p.  85G. 


40  EAIILY   HISTORY    OF   THE 

From  the  result,  it  might  be  argued  that  the 
divine  blessing  rested  upon  these  measures.  Bry- 
zelius  went  to  the  church  in  'New  Germantown, 
J^ew  Jersey,  labored  with  much  acceptance  amongst 
his  people,  and  was  held  in  honor,  both  by  his 
Swedish  and  German  brethren,  for  his  faithfulness. 

This  case,  though  it  is  the  personal  history  of  an 
individual,  shows  conclusively  what  was  the  spirit 
of  the  Lutherans  in  1760.  A  Swedish  minister 
reclaimed  by  the  prayerful  eiibrts  of  the  Swedish 
provost  is  brought  to  the  Synod  of  the  Swedes 
and  Germans,  and,  being  pledged  to  preach  the 
word  of  God  according  to  the  doctrine  and  order 
of  the  Symbolical  Books  of  the  Lutheran  Church, 
is  sent  to  take  charge  of  a  German  Lutheran  con- 
gregation. The  union,  the  harmony  of  spirit, 
between  the  Swedes  and  Germans  was  most  com- 
plete. There  was  but  one  Lutheran  Church,  to 
which  they  all  belonged ;  and,  whatever  courtesy 
they  were  wont  to  display  towards  other  Churches, 
among  themselves  they  cultivated,  in  a  peculiar 
degree,  the  sentiments  of  brethren. 

It  is  of  considerable  importance  to  observe,  that 
the  course  thus  adopted  and  pursued  by  "Wrangel 
and  his  Swedish  brethren  met  with  the  approba- 
tion of  the  Church  and  Government  that  had  sent 
them  hither.  After  the  labors  of  about  nine  years 
in  preaching  the  gospel  of  Christ  and  promoting 
unity  of  spirit  and  action  amongst  all  the  adhe- 
rents of  the  Lutheran  faith  in  America,  he  was 
recalled  to  his  native  land,  and  rewarded  with  one 


LUTHERAN   CHURCH   IN   AMERICA.  41 

of  tiie  most  prominent  appointments  that  the  Go- 
vernment 1  )f  Sweden  had  to  bestow.  The  departure 
of  the  distinguished  provost  called  forth  many  ex- 
pressions of  regret  from  the  whole  Church.  Muh- 
lenberg especially  has  recorded  the  sorrow  with 
which  he  received  the  intelli2:ence  of  "Wrano-crs 
removal.  Yet  time  and  space  could  not  destroy 
the  fellowship  of  those  congenial  spirits.  They  had 
long  labored  together  in  joy  and  in  sorrow.  They 
had  stood  side  by  side  at  the  altar  in  Wicaco  and  in 
Providence.  In  journeyings  oft,  they  had  nobly 
shared  in  the  burden  that  came  upon  them  both, — 
the  care  of  all  the  churches.  With  their  large 
experience,  they  had  legislated  together  in  synodi- 
cal  session  ;  with  childlike  simplicity,  they  had  read 
the  word  of  God  and  bowed  before  the  throne  of 
grace  in  company;  and  they  still  continued  to 
take  sweet  counsel  together,  and  to  co-operate  for 
the  advancement  of  the  Lutheran  Church  in 
America,  though  an  ocean  rolled  between  them. 


4* 


48  EARLY   HISTORY    OF   THE 


CHAPTER  II. 

SPIRITUAL   CONDITION   OF   THE    SWEDES. 

In  pursuing  the  history  of  the  Church,  the  heart 
of  the  Christian  is  ever  on  the  alert  to  discover  in 
each  particular  period  the  condition  of  that  divine 
kingdom  which  is  righteousness,  peace,  and  joy 
in  the  Holy  Ghost.  It  is  indeed  a  matter  of  in- 
terest to  know  where  congregations  were  organ- 
ized, where  churches  were  built,  what  doctrines 
were  professed,  what  efforts  were  made  for  the  dif- 
fusion of  gospel  light  upon  the  earth,  and  what 
were  their  general  results.  The  external  history 
of  the  Church,  aflbrding,  as  it  does,  most  attractive 
instances  of  the  plans  of  genius,  the  fearlessness 
of  heroism,  the  sacrifices  and  conflicts  of  benevo- 
lence, with  its  subsequent  triumphs,  might  well 
eugage  and  absorb  the  attention  of  minds  that 
are  prone  to  seek  excitement  amid  the  agitated 
scenes  of  human  passions,  or  addicted  to  indulge 
even  in  the  intoxications  of  romance. 

But,  in  the  estimation  of  the  Christian,  the 
King's  daughter  is  all  glorious  within.  He  enters 
the  sanctuary  of  Zion,  that  he  may  see  the  goings 
of  the  Lord,  the  Holy  One,  and  he  feels  lonely  and 
comfortless,  amid  all  the  splendor  of  her  courts, 
unless  he  realizes  the  divine  presence  there. 


LUTHERAN    CHURCH    IN    AMERICA.  43 

What  was  the  spirit  of  the  Swedish  churches  ? 
Were  they  bound  up  in  cold  formalism  and  in 
rigid  orthodoxy  ?  Were  they  animated  by  a  fer- 
vent and  intelligent  zeal  for  the  gospel  of  Christ 
and  the  conversion  of  souls  ?  Did  they  labor,  with 
faithfulness  and  success,  to  bring  men  from  the 
power  of  Satan  to  God?  Did  they  insist  with 
becoming  earnestness  upon  the  renewing  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,  and  train  their  people  to  the  exercise 
of  that  faith  that  worketh  by  love  ?  These  are 
questions  of  importance ;  and  it  is  with  no  small 
degree  of  interest  that  we  advance  to  consider 
them. 

Their  enterprise  in  the  erection  of  churches, 
their  anxious  care  to  have  them  supplied  with  an 
able  and  faithful  ministry,  that  might  defend  the 
truth  against  all  opposers  and  train  their  children 
in  the  way  of  life,  afford  strong  presumptive  evi- 
dence that  their  piety  was  active,  experimental, 
and  sincere.  With  no  further  indications  of  their 
Christian  character  than  these  circumstances  afford, 
we  might  dispose  of  them  under  the  conviction 
that  everywhere  their  memory  would  be  held  in 
honor,  even  by  those  who  are  accustomed  to  the 
special  and  active  measures  of  the  present  day. 
But  we  are  able  to  look  more  deeply  into  the  rela- 
tions of  their  inner  life.  Their  historians  and  an- 
nalists, 'tis  true,  have  not  in  general  appeared  much 
inclined  to  turn  their  investigations  into  this  chan- 
nel. Their  attention  vras  mainly  occupied  with 
the  civil  polity  of  the  Swedes,  and  the  external 


44  EARLY    HISTORY    OF    THE 

history  of  their  churches;  but  in  the  midst  of  all 
this  they  furnish  us  with  occasional  facts  of  great 
value  in  their  spiritual  bearing, — occasional,  yet  fre- 
quent enough  to  convince  us  that  it  is  the  fault  of 
the  annalists  themselves  that  such  statements  are 
so  rare.  After  the  German  churches  under  Muh- 
lenberg and  his  bretliren  had  been  well  established, 
and  Swedes  and  Germans  had  been  confirmed  in 
the  unity  of  the  faith,  it  was  natural  that  the  cir- 
cumstantial reports  of  the  German  congregations 
should  at  the  same  time  present  the  spiritual  con- 
dition of  their  Swedish  brethren.  So,  when  w^e 
attempt  to  describe  the  religious  standing  of  the 
latter,  our  principal  source  of  information  will  be 
found  in  the  Halle  Reports,  devoted  though  they 
are  to  the  cause  and  interests  of  the  former.  If 
any  portions  of  the  History  of  'Ne\Y  Sweden,  by 
Acrelius,  have  a  bearing  upon  this  subject,  they 
are  still  locked  up  in  the  original  Swedish  tongue, 
and  will  probably  remain  so  until  some  zealous 
inheritor  of  the  blood  of  the  early  Swedes  shall 
bring  forth  the  record  in  some  other  speech  more 
prevalent  in  our  land.* 

The  efforts  of  Campanius,  forty  years  before  the 
arrival  of  William  Penn,  to  convert  the  Indians  to 
the  faith  of  the  gospel,  have  not  only  the  appear- 
ance of  zeal ;  they  have  also  the  indisputable  merit 
of  intelligent  Christian  perseverance.  By  his  pa- 
tient teaching  he  succeeded  in  making  them  under- 


Yct  a  translation  of  tliis  work  is  reported. 


LUTHERAN   CHURCH    IN   AMERICA.  45 

stand  many  of  the  cardinal  truths  of  the  gospeL 
They  took  so  much  interest  in  his  instructions,  and 
seemed  so  well  prepared  for  further  advancement 
in  the  knowledge  of  Christ,  that  he  studied  their 
language  in  order  that  he  might  make  full  proof 
of  his  ministry  amongst  them.*  As  he  did  not 
faint,  we  have  the  assurance  of  the  divine  word 
that  in  due  season  he  was  able  to  reap.  So  it  is 
no  slight  commendation  of  the  character  of  the 
Swedish  Churches  that  impresses  us,  when,  as  we 
discover  in  the  earty  times  the  distinguished  Puri- 
tan, Eliot,  toiling  for  the  edifying  of  Christians  and 
the  conversion  of  Indians  in  Massachusetts,  we  can 
turn  straightway  towards  the  South  and  find  the 
equalh'-faithful  Lutheran,  Campanius,  accomplish- 
incr  the  same  thino;  alone;  the  Delaware. 

About  the  close  of  the  seventeenth  century,  the 
Kev.  Messrs.  Biork  and  Rudman,  upon  their  ar- 
rival from  Sweden,  were  sadly  grieved  at  the  dis- 
covery of  the  state  of  the  Church,  the  irregularity 
of  the  congregations,  their  neglect  of  the  ordi- 
nances of  the  gospel,  and  especially  their  forget- 
fulness  of  the  proper  training  of  the  youth.  Like 
reasonable  men,  however,  they  accounted  for  it  by 
the  fact,  that  the  churches  had  long  suffered  for 
the  want  of  the  requisite  pastoral  attention.  Like 
hopeful  Christians,  too,  they  promised  themselves 
and  their  congregations  that  these  things  should 
be  mended,  if  God  would  grant  them  life.f     The 

*  Clay's  Annals,  p.  27.  f  lb.  p.  GG. 


46  EARLY   HISTORY    OF    THE 

road  before  them  was  rough,  but  they  would  not 
spare  themselves.  They  would  labor  diligently  in 
word  and  doctrine,  so  that  with  God's  blessing  the 
crooked  might  become  straight  and  the  rough 
places  smooth. 

Trained  in  the  same  school  as  Campanius  had 
been  fifty  years  before,  they  trod  faithfully  in  his 
footsteps,  and  were  worthy  to  be  the  successors  of 
this  co-laborer  of  Eliot  among  the  Indians.  They 
had  been  largely  supplied  with  Luther's  Cate- 
chism, in  the  Indian  tongue.  They  found  ready 
access  to  the  neighboring  tribes.  They  were 
surprised  and  encouraged  by  the  aptness  of  the 
Indians  to  learn  from  the  lay  teacher,  Charles 
Springer,  to  whom  they  had  intrusted  this  minis- 
tr}^  They  hoped  for  great  results.  They  said, 
"Who  knows  what  God  has  yet  in  store  for  these 
Indians,  if  our  lives  should  be  spared,  when  we 
shall  have  acquired  their  language?  "We  shall 
spare  no  labor  to  attain  that  object."-'' 

The  labors  of  these  two  pastors  seem  to  have 
resulted  in  a  genuine  revival  of  religion  through- 
out the  whole  Lutheran  community.  It  was  not, 
indeed,  attended  by  those  forms  of  excitement — 
those  public  indications  of  religious  awakening — 
that  have  marked  the  extensive  revivals  of  later 
years;  but  it  had  in  it  all  the  elements  that  could 
be  expected  from  a  genuine  work  of  grace  amongst 
a  people  of  mild  and  amiable  character,  of  gentle 

^^  Clay's  Annals,  p.  68. 


LUTHEKAX    CHURCH    IN    AMERICA.  47 

and  retiring  Jiabits.  Of  the  large  number  of 
Bibles,  li^-nin-books,  prayer-books,  and  other 
books  of  devotion  sent  from  Sweden,  not  one  was 
unemployed.*  They  were  read.  They  were  car- 
ried from  house  to  house.  They  were  passed  from 
hand  to  hand.  They  were  devoured.  They  en- 
countered the  treatment,  and  the}^  produced  the 
results,  which,  colporteurs  tell  us,  belong  to  the 
history  of  some  stray  copies  of  Baxter's  Saints' 
Rest,  or  of  Doddridge's  Rise  and  Progress,  which, 
working  their  lonely  way  through  the  few  house- 
holds of  some  dreary  regions,  are  silent,  though 
mighty,  in  opening  the  eyes  of  the  blind  and 
bringing  mourning  sinners  to  the  Saviour.  The 
Swedish  churches  arose  at  once,  and  shook  them- 
selves from  the  dust:  they  put  on  garments  of 
beautv.    Reliscion  flourished  in  the  household,  the 

I/O  ' 

children  were  carefully  instructed  in  the  doctrines 
of  the  gospel,  and  parents  and  children,  walking 
in  the  fear  of  the  Lord  and  in  the  comfort  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,  were  edified. f 

The  period  of  Wrangel's  labors  among  the 
Swedes  began  in  1759  and  ended  in  1768.  During 
all  this  time  the  intimacy  between  the  Swedish 
and  German  churches  was  particularly  cordial ; 
and  it  is  mainly  in  consequence  of  this  intimacy 
that  we  are  furnished  with  the  information  that 
will  enable  us  to  form  a  correct  estimate  of  the 
character  and  spirit  of  the  Swedish  congregations. 

*  Clay's  Annals,  p.  G8.  J  lb.  pp.  71.  83. 


48  EARLY   HISTORY   OF   THE 

In  those  days  a  religious  party  of  the  English, 
and  several  sects  of  the  Germans,  were  loud,  if 
not  eloquent,  in  the  maintenance  of  a  certain 
negative  position,  against  which  it  has  always 
been  the  glory  of  the  Lutheran  Church  to  present 
a  positive  princi]3le.  These  parties  derided  Lu- 
ther's Catechism.  They  opposed  the  use  of  what 
they  called  the  letter  of  the  divine  word  in  the 
instruction  of  the  young.  In  their  social  inter- 
course, and  when  the  Spirit  was  thought  to  move 
them  in  their  meetings,  they  testified  that  it  was 
wrong,  it  was  sinful,  to  attempt  to  influence  the 
minds  of  children  by  the  use  either  of  the  one  or 
of  the  other.  "Let  the  youth,"  said  they,  "be 
unprejudiced,  uncommitted,  until  they  shall  re- 
ceive the  baptism  by  fire  and  the  inspiration  of 
the  Holy  Ghost,  which  shall  all  be  given  in  his 
own  good  place  and  time."*  But  the  Lutherans, 
always  apprehensive  that  tares  were  sure  to  grow 
where  no  good  seed  was  sown, — that  where  the 
light  was  not  made  to  shine  there  gross  darkness 
must  prevail, — steadily  persisted  in  their  eftbrts  to 
train  their  children  under  the  influence  of  the 
Bible  and  the  catechism.  The  cultivation  of  re- 
ligion in  the  household,  the  treatment  of  the  chil- 
dren, both  by  parents  and  pastors,  as  though  they 
already  stood  in  covenant-relations  with  God  by 
virtue  of  their  baptism,  and  required  the  most 
prayerful  attention  that  they  might  be  rendered 

*  Halle  Reports,  p.  1199. 


LUTHERAN  CHURCH  IX  AMERICA.       49 

steadfast  and  adorn  their  profession,  —  these  are 
principles  in  the  illustration  of  which  the  Lu- 
theran Church,  during  all  the  periods  of  its  pros- 
perity, must  be  acknowledged  to  abound. 

It  was  so  among  the  Swedes  in  the  days  of 
"Wrangel.  In  the  Conference  of  Lutheran  minis- 
ters at  Wicaco,  and  afterwards  at  the  Trappe,  his 
high  character  and  the  weighty  influence  he  was 
exerting  amongst  his  people  are  indicated  by  his 
tender  regard  for  the  divine  command,  "Feed  my 
sheep;  feed  my  lambs."  The  care  and  labor  he 
devoted  to  his  congregations,  that  they  might  live 
and  flourish  in  the  spirit  of  the  gospel,  seemed  to 
his  brethren  to  be  truly  astonishing.  When  they 
speak  of  his  preaching,  our  impression  is  that  his 
strength  belonged  to  the  pulpit,  so  lucid  were  his 
exhibitions  of  gospel  truth,  so  effective  his  instruc- 
tions, so  close  his  applications,  so  stirring  his  ap- 
peals in  the  sacred  desk.  When  we  follow  him 
in  his  pastoral  walks,  our  impression  may  be  quite 
as  positive,  that  his  strength  lay  in  the  fidelity 
with  which  he  preached  the  gospel  from  house  to 
house,  and  the  interest  with  which  he  invested 
the  catechetical  instruction  of  the  young. 

The  recommendations  which  he  eloquently 
urged  upon  the  attention  of  his  Lutheran  brethren 
in  the  Conference  at  the  Trappe,  in  1760,  may  be 
regarded  as  descriptive  of  the  usages  of  the  Swedish 
churches ;  they  certainly  were  of  those  of  the 
Germans  in  the  times  of  Muhlenberg.  The  same 
catechism  (Luther's  Small  Catechism)  was  studied 


50  EARLY   HISTORY   OF   THE 

in  all  the  churclies.  The  pastor  visited  the  con- 
gregational schools  and  the  families  of  his  people, 
and  sought,  by  the  use  of  the  catechism,  to  pre- 
sent the  doctrines  of  the  gospel  in  a  plain,  simple, 
attractive  form,  so  that  the  children  themselves 
would  desire  it  as  the  sincere  milk  of  the  word. 
Care  was  taken  that  the  memory  should  not  be 
burdened  with  ojDpressive  tasks;  yet  every  doc- 
trine was  to  be  proven  and  established  by  some 
apt  passage  of  the  Scripture.  It  was  the  duty  of 
the  parents  and  the  pastor  to  see  that  whatever 
was  committed  to  memory  was  thoroughly  under- 
stood, so  that  not  only  the  memory,  but  also  all 
the  affections  of  the  soul,  might  be  occupied  with 
the  good  word  of  God.* 

There  had  been  times  in  which  the  Swedes 
were  remiss  in  that  devout  observance  of  the 
sacraments  of  the  gospel  that  is  characteristic  of  a 
faith  that  worketh  by  love.  They  neglected  espe- 
cially the  table  of  the  Lord.  Guilty  fears  and  a 
legal  spirit  drove  them  from  it,  until  old  age  had 
settled  upon  them,  or  until  Providence  had  laid 
them  upon  the  bed  of  death.  But  the  tears  and 
eloquent  appeals  of  Wrangel,  the  devout  spirit, 
the  steady  perseverance  of  Borrel,  the  hearty  co- 
operation of  Bryzelius  and  Wicksel,  through  the 
blessing  oT  God,  effected  a  thorough,  a  happy 
change ;  and,  from  the  weeping  and  the  praying  with 
which  both  old  and  young  surrounded  the  table 

*  Halle  Reports,  p.  853. 


LUTnERAN    CIIURCn    IN    AMERICA.  51 

of  the  Lord  upon  their  solemn  festivals,  it  might  he 
argued  that  a  blessing  had  indeed  been  bestowed 
upon  them,  and  that  God  had  visited  his  people.* 

By  their  varied  and  untiring  efforts,  the  Church 
prospered;  Zion  seemed  to  break  forth  on  the 
right  hand  and  on  the  left.  From  time  to  time 
there  were  souls  added  to  the  number  of  the  faith- 
ful, with  whom  the  Swedes  had  had  no  nearer 
connection  than  the  common  ties  of  humanity. 
At  one  time  Roman  Catholics  were  brought  to 
the  knowledge  of  the  truth  of  the  gospel ;  at 
another,  Quakers  were  baptized  in  the  name  of 
the  Holy  Trinity ;  and  again,  negroes,  the  chil- 
dren of  Ethiopia,  were  admitted  to  the  household 
of  faith  and  the  table  of  the  Lord.f  Their  pastors, 
with  Wraugel  at  their  head,  "worked  themselves 
almost  to  death"  in  building  up  the  kingdom  of 
Christ;  and  in  their  seasons  of  retirement  they 
could  but  Aveep  over  the  desolations  they  saw 
around  them.  In  this  laboring  in  public  and 
weeping  in  private,  this  ceaseless  remembrance 
of  Zion,  we  discover  the  solution  of  Muhlenberg's 
testimony  in  1761 : — "There  seems  to  be  a  special 
revival  and  a  peculiar  blessing  abiding  upon  the 
Swedish  churches. "J 

A  revival  in  the  sense  of  Muhlenberg  was  un- 
questionably a  work  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  Such 
works  it  w^as  his  privilege  often  to  behold ;    and 


*  Halle  Reports,  p.  8G0.  f  Ibid.  pp.  957,  058. 

X  Ibid.  p.  918. 


52  EARLY   HISTORY   OF   THE 

lie  was  well  qualified  to  judge  of  tlie  spiritual 
condition  of  the  Church  around  him.  In  a  word, 
we  may  say  that  in  the  Swedish  congregations  the 
cardinal  doctrines  of  the  gospel  were  preached  in 
the  pulpit  and  from  house  to  house.  They  were 
insisted  upon  as  the  suhjects  of  a  living,  saving 
faith ;  they  were  believed  by  the  people  and  exem- 
plified in  their  lives.  They  served  to  guide  and 
instruct  the  young ;  they  were  for  the  comfort 
and  consolation  of  the  old.  Their  prevalence 
secured  to  the  faithful  pastors  many  souls  as  seals 
to  their  ministry ;  and  under  their  influence  the 
churches  were  increased  and  edified. 

After  the  intimate  fellowship  that  subsisted  for 
so  long  a  time  between  the  Germans  and  the 
Swedes  in  the  bosom  of  the  Lutheran  Church,  a 
day  of  separation  came.  The  Germans  continued 
faithful  to  the  doctrine  and  order  of  their  Church. 
The  Swedes  broke  loose  from  their  historical  con- 
nections ;  they  turned  aside  from  their  venerable 
Lutheran  antecedents;  they  essayed  to  swim 
alone,  and  were  soon  swallowed  up  in  the  stream 
of  High- Church  Episcopacy. 

This  event  does  not  appear  to  have  been  the 
result  of  any  angry  controversy  upon  the  sub- 
ject either  of  doctrine  or  of  polity.  It  was  not 
brought  about  by  any  acknowledged  or  existing 
incongruity  between  the  German  and  Swedish  ele- 
ments. Both  agreed  in  testifying  to  all  men  repent- 
ance towards  God,  and  faith  in  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ.     They  taught   everywhere   that   nothing 


LUTHERAN    CHURCH    IN   AMERICA.  53 

would  avail  in  Christ  Jesus  but  a  new  creature. 
In  their  cl lurches  and  families  they  were  all  alike 
in  the  use  of  Luther's  Small  Catechism  and  the 
Augsburg  Confession.  In  their  synodical  conven- 
tions they  stood  side  by  side  in  their  respectful 
deference  to  "  our  Symbolical  Books."  We  will  not 
say  that  thc}^  regarded  the  Bible  as  the  only  inftd- 
lible  rule  of  faith  and  practice ;  for,  as  Lutherans, 
it  does  not  appear  that  they  could  have  done  other- 
wise. The  Augsburg  Confession  itself  protests 
against  "  entailing  upon  our  children  any  other  doc- 
trine than  that  of  the  pure  divine  word  and  Chris- 
tian truth."  We  will  not  say  that  they  did  not 
desire  the  Augsburg  Confession  to  supersede  the 
word  of  God;  for  we  might  then  be  asked,  Where 
is  the  Lutheran  who  has  ever  been  conscious  of 
such  a  desire  ?  In  a  word,  they  agreed  in  every 
thing.  As  members  of  the  same  Lutheran  family, 
they  were  not  conscious  of  any  diversity  of  sen- 
timent, even  upon  the  subject  of  ecclesiastical 
polity.  The  Swede  would  as  soon  have  pretended 
to  trace  his  descent  from  a  nobler  race  than  the 
family  of  man,  as  presume  to  claim  for  his  minis- 
try, a  higher  authority  or  a  greater  value  than 
belonged  to  the  ministry  of  his  German  brother. 
They  were  all  brethren ;  and  amongst  themselves 
there  could  be  no  cause  for  separation,  for  there 
was  no  strife  between  them. 

Notwithstanding  all  this,  the  Swedish  brethren 
withdrew  from  the  fellowship  of  the  Lutheran 
Church  in  America;  and  whoever  undertakes  to 

6* 


54  EARLY   HISTORY   OF   THE 

follow  up  their  history  as  developed  in  later  years, 
will  find  them  moving  along  smoothly  and  noise- 
lessly amidst  the  forms  and  traditions  of  English 
Episcopalianism. 

In  view  of  the  lofty  pretensions  put  forth  by 
High-Church  Episcopalians  of  the  present  day,  it 
seems  to  us  unaccountable  that  any  respectable 
portion  of  the  Lutheran  Church  should  be  willing 
to  abandon  its  own  venerable  historical  connec- 
tions, and  humbly  receive,  in  return,  the  vaunted 
benefits  of  what  is  called  the  apostolical  succes- 
sion. Indeed,  if  the  Swedish  Churches  had  con- 
tinued faithful  to  their  Lutheran  profession  until 
the  present  generation,  there  is  no  reason  to  sup- 
pose that  they  would  regard  the  exclusive  claims 
of  English  Episcopacy  with  any  more  favor  than 
is  felt  by  the  existing  membership  of  the  Lutheran 
Church  in  America.  Of  the  Swedish  immigrants 
settling  in  our  "Western  States  within  the  last  few 
years,  several  large  and  flourishing  congregations 
have  been  formed.  Their  attachments  are  not  to 
the  Episcopal  but  the  Lutheran  Church ;  and  in 
the  language  of  the  Archbishop  of  Sweden,  in  a 
letter  to  certain  Swedes  in  this  country,  in  the 
year  1850,  they  speak  of  a  departure  from  the 
Lutheran  to  the  Episcopal  Church  as  being,  "  if  , 
not  an  apostasy,  at  least  a  downfall."* 

But  the  condition  of  the  Lutheran  Church,  that 
of  the  Episcopalians,  and  the  relations  between 

*  Rev.  L.  P.  Esbjorn. 


LUTHERAN    CIIUllCIl    IN    AMERICA.  55 

them,  were,  towards  the  close  of  the  last  century, 
vastly  different  from  what  they  are  at  present.  So 
the  transition  of  the  Swedes  from  the  one  to  the 
other,  which  at  this  time  would  be  at  least  a  down- 
fall, may  have  been  effected,  in  the  day  of  its  occur- 
rence, by  most  honorable  motives  and  by  the 
plainest  force  of  circumstances.  It  was  done,  in- 
deed, without  any  dissatisfaction  with  the  Lutheran 
Church, — without  any  special  preference  for  the 
forms,  without  any  peculiar  approbation  of  the 
claims,  of  Episcopalians. 

Indeed,  so  fraternal,  so  cordial,  w\as  the  inter- 
course between  the  Lutheran  and  Episcopal 
clergy  of  these  earlier  years,  that  it  deserves  to  be 
spoken  of  as  an  honor  to  both.  That  they  invited 
Muhlenberg  to  visit  the  annual  Convention  of 
Episcopal'  ministers,  and  treated  him  with  the 
utmost  deference  when  he  took  his  seat  amongst 
them ;  that  they  requested  him  to  preach  in  the 
Episcopal  church  in  Philadelphia ;  that  they  main- 
tained towards  him  and  the  Lutheran  ministry  in 
general  the  attitude  of  Christian  brethren  in  the 
pastoral  office, — all  this  was  as  honorable  to  the 
Episcopalians  as  to  the  Lutherans  themselves. 
It  would  be  unfair,  too,  to  suppose  that  these 
Episcopalians  adopted  this  course  under  the  im- 
pression that  the  Lutherans  might  gradually  be 
led,  by  a  certain  patronizing  air,  to  abandon  their 
own  foundation,  and  adopt  Episcopal  rule, — apos- 
tolical succession  and  all.  They  were  too  w^ell 
informed  not  to  know  the  hearty  attachment  of 


56  EARLY   HISTORY   OF   TUB 

the  Lutherans  to  their  Symbolical  Books  and  their 
ecclesiastical  immunities.  It  is  true  that  they 
contemplated  establishing  a  closer  union  between 
the  Churches ;  but  in  this  contemplation  the  Epis- 
copalian never  allowed  himself  rudely  to  question 
the  clerical  character  of  the  Lutheran  ministry,  nor 
arrogantly  to  insinuate  that  Episcopalians  ^vere 
the  Church  and  Lutherans  were  schismatics. 
I  »  Li  short,  strong  sentiments  of  mutual  regard 
and  good  faith  bound  Lutherans  and  Episco- 
palians together.  Had  both  then  been  united  so 
as  to  constitute  one  Church,  it  would  have  been 
the  union  of  two  Churches  each  of  which  had 
previously  recognized  the  Christian  character  and 
polity  of  the  other.  So,  when  the  Swedes  began 
to  approach  towards  the  Episcopal  Church,  the 
movement  implied,  on  their  part,  no  disavowal 
whatever  of  the  doctrine  and  polity  of  Lu- 
theranism,  no  acknowledgment  at  all  of  the  ex- 
clusive claims  with  which  the  Episcopacy  of  more 
recent  times  has  attempted  to  fill  our  ears. 

The  circumstances  that  led  them  to  make  this 
movement  were  wdiolly  of  an  external  character. 
Although  the  Swedish  language  had  been  pre- 
V  /'  served  in  their  churches,  for  many  years,  in  its 
purity,  yet,  about  the  middle  of  the  last  century, 
it  began  to  yield  to  the  greater  prevalence  of  the 
English. 

Wisely  endeavoring  to  accommodate  themselves 
to  the  advancing  change,  they  petitioned  the  au- 
thorities of  the  Church  in  Sweden  to  extend  to 


LUTHERAN    CHURCH   IN   AMERICA.  57 

their  pastors  permission  to  preach  in  the  English 
language.  This  petition  was  addressed  to  the 
Archhishop  and  Consistory  of  Upsal,  in  the  year 
1758,  shortly  after  the  decease  of  the  Eev.  Mr. 
Parlin.*  In  the  year  1759  the  eventful  ministry 
of  Wrangel  hegan ;  and  it  was  not  the  least  of 
his  distinctions  that  he  was  dilis^ent  in  lahorins* 
amongst  the  Swedes  through  the  medium  of  the 
English  language, — perhaps  in  cherishing  their 
fondness  for  it.  He  preached  in  English,  he  trans- 
lated Luther's  Small  Catechism  into  English,  he 
taught  the  children  in  English  ;  and  it  is  altogether 
reasonable  to  suppose  that  the  use  of  the  English 
language,  which  had  been  a  mere  matter  of  desire 
among  the  Swedes  in  1758,  before  Wrangel  came, 
should  have  become  indispensable  in  1768,  after 
his  departure. 

This  growing  necessity  for  services  in  the  Eng- 
lish language  increased  the  demand  for  men  who 
might  be  able  to  preach  in  English  with  ease  and 
with  acceptance.  The  venerable  Swedish  pastors, 
who  still  served  to  keep  up  the  ancient  connection 
with  the  Church  in  Sweden,  were  held  as  worthy 
of  all  honor ;  but  the  congregations  began  to  feel, 
and  soon  expressed  the  necessity,  of  having  pas- 
tors who  had  been  educated  in  this  country ;  for 
the  Swedish  language  was  about  becoming  ex- 
tinct, and  the  English  was  completely  occupying 
its  place. 

*  Clay's  Annals,  p.  124. 


58  EARLY   HISTORY   OF   THE 

But,  in  those  days,  the  ministry  of  the  Lutheran 
Church  seems  to  have  been  trained  and  educated 
abroad.  ISTeither  the  Germans  nor  the  Swedes 
could  furnish  the  men,  of  requisite  qualifications 
and  of  a  Lutheran  spirit,  to  occupy  the  Swedish 
pulpits  and  labor  in  the  Swedish  congregations  in 
the  English  language.  The  Episcopal  Church  of 
England  having  long  cultivated  friendly  relations 
with  the  Lutheran  Church,  it  was  to  the  Episco- 
palians that  the  Swedes  at  once  resorted.  Their 
demand  was  promptly  supplied,  and  for  many 
years  before  the  close  of  the  last  century  we  find 
Episcopal  clergymen  diligently  ofiiciating,  as  as- 
sistants and  rectors,  in  the  Swedish  churches. 
The  introduction  of  this  element,  of  course,  pre- 
pared the  way  for  the  adoption  of  other  and 
stronger  elements  of  Episcopacy,  as  they  might  be 
developed  in  the  lapse  of  time.  Li  the  year  1787, 
an  amendment  of  the  charter  legalized  the  elec- 
tion of  Episcopal  as  well  as  of  Lutheran  clergy- 
men as  pastors  of  the  churches ;  and  in  a  short 
time  their  transition  from  the  Lutheran  to  the 
Episcopal  fellowship  was  completed. 

Bej^ond  this  point  it  is  not  worth  our  while 
at  present  to  prosecute  their  history.  "Whether 
the  change  was  so  gradual  as  to  have  produced 
no  perceptible  impression  upon  themselves,  or 
whether  they  woke  up  suddenl}^  and  found,  to 
their  surprise,  that  they  were  Episcopalians  instead 
of  Lutherans,  are  questions  of  little  moment  here. 
TUe  change  was  in  every  respect  contrary  to  the 


LUTHERAN   CHURCH   IX   AMERICA.  59 

spirit  of  the  Swedish  Church,  and  was  completed 
only  after  their  connection  with  the  Church  in 
Sweden  had  been  virtually  dissolved. 

Of  all  the  nations  that  adhere  to  the  Lutheran 
Church,  the  Swedes  have  ever  been  the  most 
faithful  in  their  support  and  defence  of  her  Sym- 
bols ;  and  the  prominent  position  which  Luther's 
Catechism  and  the  Augsburg  Confession  held 
among  the  Swedes  in  America  for  upwards  of  one 
hundred  and  forty  years,  is  a  sufficient  indication 
that  their  attachment  to  the  Lutheran  Church 
was  hearty  and  sincere. 

Li  view  of  the  circumstances  under  which  their 
connection  with  the  Church  in  Sweden  was  dis- 
solved, the  thought  might  occur,  that  it  could  be 
fairly  regarded  as  an  attempt  to  set  up  an  Ame- 
rican Lutheran  Church,  although  it  was  not  so 
avowed.  An  American  Lutheran  Church  might 
be  defined  to  be  a  Church  in  America,  which, 
whilst  it  retains  the  name  of  Lutheran,  disclaims 
connection  with  the  Lutheran  Church  in  Europe, 
and  is  at  liberty  to  adopt  or  to  reject  any  feature 
of  polity  or  of  doctrine  it  may  think  proper,  with- 
out respect  to  the  ancient  Symbols  of  Lutheranism. 
Such,  practically,  was  the  course  pursued  by  the 
Swedes ;  and  the  fate  that  so  soon  overwhelmed 
them  is  full  of  warning  that  might  be  regarded 
with  profit  at  the  present  day.  Breaking  off  from 
ecclesiastical  connections  that  had  been  rendered 
venerable  and  glorious  by  the  sufferings,  the  vic- 
tories, the  spiritual  heroism  of  successive  genera- 


60  EARLY    HISTORY    OF    THE 

I  tions,  they  became  American  Lutherans.  Do  we 
I  look  for  something  noble,  some  striking  token  of 
Igoocl,  as  the  lirst-fruits  of  this  unusual  movement? 
I  We  hear  nothing  but  the  rustling  of  the  robes  of 
■  Episcopacy ;  and  these  American  Lutherans  fade 
wholly  from  our  sight  amid  the  flowing  vestments 
;  of  the  apostolic  succession. 


LUTHERAN  CHURCH  IN  AMERICA.       61 


CHAPTER  m. 

THE   DUTCH. 

However,  as  the  Lutheran  Church  at  present 
exists  in  America,  the  seed  by  which  it  was  origi- 
nally sown  was  German.  Among  the  early  colo- 
nists that  Holland  furnished  for  the  settlement  of 
the  IS'ew  Netherlands,  as  I^ew  York  was  then 
called,  there  was  a  small  proportion  of  Lutherans. 
The  Dutch  do  not  appear  in  the  beginning  to 
have  been  strongly  characterized  by  intelligent 
Christian  zeal.  They  concerned  themselves  very 
little,  if  at  all,  about  the  conversion  of  the  Indians. 
The  chief  object  of  the  Government  at  home,  and 
of  the  colonists  themselves,  seems  to  have  been  to 
raise  the  I^ew  Netherlands  to  the  highest  degree 
of  commercial  prosperity.  If  years,  if  many  years, 
elapsed  then  before  the  Lutherans  from  Holland 
made  any  combined  effort  on  behalf  of  the  Church, 
this  is  to  be  accounted  for  by  the  prevalence  of  the 
worlcTly  aims  that  generally  ruled  amongst  the 
Dutch. 

After  a  while,  however,  their  religious  sentiment 
began  to  awaken  and  extend.  Yet  almost  every 
step  of  their  progress  was  taken  in  the  face  of  an 
opposition  that  rose  at  times  even  to  persecution 


62  EARLY   HISTORY   OF   THE 

itself.  The  Lutherans  in  Holland  never  sympa- 
thized in  the  doctrinal  system  of  the  Arminians ; 
but  in  popular  opinion  thc}^  were  confounded  with 
that  condemned  party,  and  exposed  to  a  share  in 
its  persecutions.  Those  of  them  who  had  emi- 
grated to  the  New  Netherlands  were  in  the  habit, 
as  early  as  the  year  1644,  of  meeting  in  private 
houses  for  purposes  of  social  devotion.  Well 
disjDOsed  towards  their  Dutch  Reformed  brethren, 
they  were  pleased  to  meet  with  them  in  their  sea- 
sons of  public  worship,  and,  having  no  pastors  of 
their  own,  they  were  anxious  to  have  their  children 
baptized  by  the  ministers  of  that  denomination. 
In  such  cases,  however,  they  were  required  to  pro- 
fess their  belief  in  the  truth  of  the  doctrines  pro- 
mulgated by  the  Synod  of  Dort,  and  to  promise  to 
train  up  their  children  in  the  same.  This  would 
have  made  them  and  their  families  rigid  Calvinists 
at  once.  It  would  have  been  a  step  which  multi- 
tudes of  German  Reformed  Churches  on  the  con- 
tinent of  Europe — in  Brandenburg,  in  Hesse,  and 
at  Bremen — were  themselves  unwilling  to  take.* 
Of  course,  no  conscientious  Lutheran  could  agree 
to  the  prescribed  terms.  Their  refusal  drew  down 
upon  them  the  violence  of  the  Established  Church. 
The  two  ministers  of  the  Dutch  Reformed,  Mega- 
polensis  and  Drisius,  in  the  ardor  of  mistaken  zeal, 
demanded  that  all  Lutheran  parents  should  attend 
church  with  their  children,  and  have  them  publicly 

*  Goericke,  Part  TIL  p.  566. 


LUTHERAN  CHURCH  IN  AMERICA.       63 

baptized  according  to  the  formulary  of  the  Synod 
of  Dort.  Several  Lutherans  refusing  to  comply 
with  this  extravagant  demand  were  arrested,  fined, 
and  in  default  of  payment  thrown  into  prison. 

^Notwithstanding  these  difficulties,  the  congrega- 
tion of  Lutherans  continued  to  grow  both  in  num- 
bers and  in  zeal.  About  the  year  W53i,  both  the 
Dutch  and  the  German  Lutherans  of  the  'New 
Netherlands  united  in  a  petition  addressed  to  the 
civil  authorities  in  Holland,  asking  the  privilege 
of  electing  their  own  pastor  and  holding  public 
worship  according  to  the  tenets  of  the  Lutheran 
faith.  This  petition,  so  reasonable  in  itself,  was 
zealously  urged  by  the  Lutheran  Consistory  of 
Amsterdam,  and  every  relation  and  bearing  of  the 
subject  held  forth  the  hope  of  a  favorable  answer. 
Megapolensis  and  Drisius,  however,  lifted  up  the 
voice  of  remonstrance  against  it :  they  bewailed, 
they  said,  the  spread  of  sectarianism,  and  spoke  of 
the  dangerous  consequences  of  extending  such 
privileges  to  the  Lutherans.  The  Anabaptists, 
the  Mennonists,  the  Quakers,  and  the  English  In- 
dependents, they  said,  abounded  in  the  province ; 
and,  if  the  Lutherans  were  indulged,  all  the  others 
would  demand  the  same  thing  for  themselves.  In- 
jluenced  by  these  representations,  the  Chassis  of 
Amsterdam  and  the  Directors  of  the  West  India 
Company  refused  the  petition  of  the  Lutherans, 
and  instructed  Stuyvesant,  the  Governor  of  the 
Xew  Netherlands,  to  employ  all  moderate  means 
for  the  purpose  of  luring  the  Lutherans  iuto  the 


>/ 


64  EARLY   HISTORY   OF   THE 

Dutcli  Eeformed  Churcli  and  matriculating  tliera 
in  that  religion. 

Stnyvesant  gladly  received  these  instructions. 
They  ran  at  least  in  the  direction  that  was  most 
pleasing  to  himself  and  his  spiritual  colleagues 
Megapolensis  and  Drisius.  But  they  did  not  go 
far  enough.  So,  rejecting  the  moderate  policy 
that  his  superiors  had  recommended,  he  avowed 
himself  as  ready  to  go  greater  lengths  than  ever 
in  the  spirit  of  religious  persecution. 

The  Lutherans  had  long  been  accustomed  to 
y  meet  in  their  own  dw^ellings  for  purposes  of 
social  devotion.  Against  these  meetings,  called 
"conventicles"  in  contempt,  Stu3'Vesant  published 
a  fiery  proclamation,  showed  that  the  Lutherans 
could  expect  no  indulgence  from  him,  encouraged 
the  Dutch  Reformed  clergy  in  enforcing  their  bap- 
tismal formulary,  so  obnoxious  to  the  Lutherans, 
and  continued  to  punish  by  fines  and  imprison- 
ments those  who  refused  submission. 

This  cruel  intolerance,  being  reported  to  the 
Directors  of  the  West  India  Company,  drew  forth 
from  them  such  a  rebuke  as  for  a  season  cheered 
the  hearts  and  revived  the  hopes  of  the  Lutherans. 
They  renewed  their  appeals  to  the  civil  and  eccle- 
siastical authorities  in  Holland  for  permission  to 
organize  their  own  church  and  to  call  their  own 
pastor.  They  obtained  a  promise  of  toleration, 
and  avowed  the  hope  that  a  person  would,  before 
long,  arrive  from  the  fatherland,  properly  qualified 
to  instruct  them  and  watch  over  their  souls. 


LUTHERAN    CHURCH    IN    AMERICA.  65 

The  first  practical  result  of  their  efforts  to 
establish  the  Lutheran  Church  is  seen  in  the 
arrival  of  the  Rev.  John  Ernest  Goetwater,  in 
the  month  of  June^  1657.  He  came  commissioned 
bj  the  Lutheran  Consistory  of  Amsterdam  to  act 
as  pastor  of  the  Lutheran  congregation  ^'  at  the 
Manhattens."  The  determined  opposition,  not  to 
himself,  but  to  the  Lutheran  Church,  led  oiF  by 
the  Dutch  clerg}^  and  acquiesced  in  by  the  civil 
authorities  of  the  province,  prevented  him,  how- 
ever, from  even  entering  upon  his  labors.  He 
was  cited  to  appear  before  the  civil  tribunal,  and 
forbidden  to  preach,  or  to  hold  any  Lutheran  "  con- 
venticles:" in  short,  he  was  forthwith  banished 
from  l^ew  Amsterdam ;  and,  having  spent  some 
few  weeks  in  sickness  in  the  suburbs  of  the  city, 
he  embarked  in  the  month  of  October,  and  re- 
turned to  Holland. 

L^pon  the  surrender  of  the  Xew  ^N'etherlands  to 
the  crown  of  Great  Britain  in  1664,  the  Lutherans 
readily  obtained  from  the  English  authorities  what 
the  Dutch  had  always  denied  them, — the  privilege 
of  holding  their  worship  publicly  in  the  city  of 
I^ew  York.  This  privilege  was  continued  to  them 
by  the  successive  governors  of  the  province.  The 
Church,  thus  released  from  its  bonds,  began  to 
devise  ways  and  means  for  the  discharge  of  its 
high  and  holy  duties  to  the  gospel  and  to  the 
world.  Their  efforts  to  obtain  a  pastor  for  them- 
selves were  so  far  successful;  and  in  1669  the 
Eev.  Jacob   Fabritius    commenced    his    ministry 

6- 


66  EARLY    HISTORY    OF    THE 

amongst  them.  His  talents  were  of  a  high  order, 
his  learning  solid  and  extensive,  his  gifts  and 
bearing  such  as  belong  to  the  eloquent  and  at- 
tractive speaker;  but  his  spirit  was  haughty,  self- 
ish, and  overbearing,  whilst  his  morals  were  such 
as  to  have  destroyed  his  personal  influence  for 
good,  and  exposed  him  even  to  public  reproach. 
Indulging  his  appetite  for  strong  drink,  he  fur- 
nished another  of  the  many  sad  evidences  the 
world  has  seen  of  the  power  of  intemperance  to 
make  havoc  in  the  Church.  During  eight  years 
he  labored  in  New  York,  and,  at  the  expiration 
of  that  time,  received  and  accepted  a  call  from  the 
Swedish  Church  of  Wicaco  on  the  Delaware. 

Of  the  condition  of  the  church  from  this  time 
until  the  close  of  the  century  very  little  has  been 
recorded.  The  successor  of  Mr.  Fabritius  was 
Kev.  Bernard  Arint;  but  of  the  period  of  his 
connection  Avith  the  church  as  pastor  no  specific 
notice  has  been  taken. 

In  the  year  1701  the  Rev.  Mr.  Eudman,  intend- 
ing to  return  to  his  native  land,  resigned  the 
charge  of  the  Swedish  Church  in  Philadelphia. 
As  the  Lutherans  in  'New  York,  however,  had 
been  for  a  long  time  without  a  pastor,  he  yielded 
to  their  urgent  solicitation  and  settled  in  that  city. 
The  climate  proved  to  be  too  severe  for  his  con- 
stitution. He  therefore  withdrew;  and,  having 
abandoned  the  purpose  of  returning  to  Sweden, 
upon  retiring  from  Kew  York  he  became  a  pastor 
once  more  in  the  vicinity  of  Philadelphia.     His 


LUTHERAN    CnURCH    IN   AMERICA.  67 

concern  for  the  church  in  Xew  York,  which  he 
was  about  to  leave,  and  his  fear  lest,  if  neglected, 
it  might  fall  away  from  the  pure  faith  of  the  gos- 
pel, made  him  exceedingly  anxious  to  secure  some 
worthy  pastor  to  occupy  the  place.  Ilis  wishes 
were  accomplished.  He  obtained  the  consent  of 
Justus  Falkner  to  accept  of  the  call  which  the 
Lutheran  Church  in  the  city  of  Kew  York  might 
extend  to  him. 

Justus  Falkner,  of  Saxony,  arrived  in  this  coun- 
try a  student  of  divinity.  He  was  afterwards  or- 
dained by  three  Swedish  pastors  in  the  church  at 
"Wicaco.  Shortly  after  his  ordination  he  became 
pastor  of  the  church  in  Xew  York,  in  the  year 
jL703.  It  was  in  this,  the  first  year  of  his  ministr3V 
that  the  Holland  Lutherans  erected  a  church  at 
the  southwest  corner  of  Broadway  and  Rector 
Streets,  where,  together  with  many  German  Lu- 
therans, they  w^orshipped  for  a  long  time  exclu- 
sively in  the  Holland  and  English  languages,  but 
adhering  to  the  discipline,  doctrine,  and  faith  of 
the  Lutheran  Church. 

From  this  time  until  the  year  1750  there  were 
but  three  pastors  in  charge  of  this  church.  These 
were  Justus  Falkner,  Christopher  William  Berck- 
enmeyer,  and  Christian  Knoll.  Under  the  minis- 
try of  the  former  two,  the  church  was  large  and 
flourishing,  both  spiritually  and  in  its  worldly  cir- 
.cumstances.  Afterwards,  however,  serious  conflicts 
arose ;  old  members  became  weary  of  strife  and 
withdrew ;  the  children  as  they  grew  up  threw  in 


V 


68  EARLY    HISTORY    OF    THE 

their  lot  with  other  churches ;  and  the  congrega- 
tion which  in  times  of  oppression  had  contended 
so  earnestly  for  the  faith — which  had  hegiin  the 
century  under  such  favorable  circumstances — was 
so  completely  reduced  by  a  few  years  of  conten- 
tion, that,  in  the  j^ear  1750,  Muhlenberg,  already 
sick  at  heart  by  what  he  had  heard,  when  duty 
called  him  beyond  the  city  of  I^ew  York,  sought 
earnestly,  but  all  in  vain,  for  some  excuse  to  avoid 
the  necessity  of  even  looking  in  upon  them.* 

During  the  ministry  of  the  three  pastors  above 
named,  the  congregation  stood  in  connection  with 
the  Mother-Church  in  Holland.  To  the  Lutheran 
Consistory  in  Amsterdam  they  regularly  reported 
the  condition  and  progress  of  the  congregation, 
and  the  pastors  held  their  ecclesiastical  jurisdiction 
subordinate  to  that  body. 

Although  many  German  Lutherans  were  con- 
nected with  this  church,  yet  it  seems  that  for 
nearl}^  fifty  years  the  exercises  of  pubhc  worship 
were  conducted  only  in  the  languages  of  Holland 
and  England.  During  the  last  year  of  the  ministry 
of  Mr.  Knoll  as  pastor  of  Trinity  Church,  the 
German  language  was,  for  the  first  time,  allowed 
to  be  occasionallj^  used.  This  measure  was  adopted 
mainly  in  consequence  of  a  kind  consideration  for 
the  necessities  of  the  many  German  brethren  who 
had  arrived  and  settled  in  ^N'ew  York  in  that  very 
year.     Tlie  Germans,  however,  had  been  gathering 

*  Bill  in  Chancery,  1840;  Halle  Reports,  p.  363. 


LUTHERAN   CHURCH   IX   AMERICA.  69 

into  J^ew  York  for  many  j-ears  already;  and  in 
studying  the  history  of  this  church,  we  cannot 
refrain  from  expressing  our  wonder  at  the  early 
use  of  the  English  and  the  long  omission  of  the 
German  language  in  the  exercises  of  public  wor- 
ship. But  the  language  of  Holland,  which  always 
preponderated,  was  the  native  speech  of  the 
founders  of  the  church.  With  this  language  the 
early  German  immigrants  generally  seem  to  have 
been  somewhat  familiar;  whilst  the  English,  being 
the  language  of  the  Government,  increasing  in  the 
walks  of  business  and  of  social  life,  and  doubtless 
preferred  by  the  3'ounger  portion  of  the  church, 
presented  claims  which  from  the  first  were  re- 
garded with  respectful  consideration. 

jSTot  many  years  elapsed,  however,  before  the 
Germans  began  to  urge  their  own  claims  and  that 
of  their  language.  Contention,  disorder,  and  divi- 
sions ensued.  But  we  turn  for  the  present  from 
the  contemplation  of  this  one  scene  of  confusion 
towards  the  long  series  of  happy  consequences 
that  resulted  from  the  immigration  of  the  Ger- 
mans. 


70  EARLY  HISTORY   OF  THE 


CHAPTER  lY. 

THE    GERMANS. 

The  immigration  of  the  Germans,  wlio  contri- 
buted to  the  planting  of  our  Church,  extended  over 
a  period  of  many  years,  varied  in  its  numbers, 
was  influenced  by  a  diversity  of  circumstances, 
and  yet  continued  from  beginning  to  end,  with 
perhaps  but  two  exceptions,  unchanged  in  its 
external  poverty  and  in  its  lack  of  efficient  pa- 
tronage. 

'  The  earliest  authentic  record  that  we  have  of 
this  immigration  was  drawn  up  by  Muhlenberg, 
Handschuh,  and  Heintzelman,  in  the  year  1754,  at 

I  the  instance  of  the  Synod  of  Pennsylvania.  Be- 
ginning with  the  year  1680,  and  coming  down 
to  their  own  time,  they  specify  five  periods  as  dis- 
tinguished amongst  themselves  by  their  length  or 
by  the  number  and  spirit  of  the  German  Luther- 

Ians  they  transferred  to  our  shores.  From  1680 
to  1708,  the  number  of  Germans  who  ventured  to 
cross  the  ocean  was  very  small,  and  is  noticed  sim- 
ply upon  the  principle  that  they  were  the  pioneers 
of  the  masses  that  soon  rolled  in  after  them.  The 
troubles  that  were  agitating  Europe  during  this 
period,  and  the  liberal  religious  principles  advo- 


LUTHERAN   CHURCH    IN   AMERICA.  71 

cated  by  William  Penn,  were  the  main  causes  of 
their  movement  to  the  West.  Thankful,  no  doubt, 
to  the  kind  Providence  that  gave  them  a  new  and 
peaceful  home,  they  seem  not  to  have  been  much 
concerned  about  the  form  of  doctrine  that  had 
been  dear  to  their  fathers,  and,  with  a  capacity  for 
easy  adaptation  to  the  new  circumstances  by  which 
they  were  surrounded,  many  of  them  assumed  the 
garb,  the  manner,  and  at  length  even  the  faith,  of 
the  Quaker. 

The  second  period  extended  from  1708  to  1720, 
and  was  distinguished  as  the  time  of  the"great 
emigration  from  the  Palatinate,  under  the  patronage 
of  Queen  Anne.  The  wars  and  the  persecutions 
that  had  arisen  because  of  the  word  were  such  as 
to  favor  the  plans  of  the  queen.  Knowing  the 
peaceable  character  of  the  Germans,  and  anxious 
to  increase  the  population  of  her  American  colo- 
nies, she  held  out  strong  inducements  to  them  to 
become  British  subjects.  The  generous  offers  of 
transport,  subsidence,  and  land  in  the  ISTew  World, 
w^ere  cheerfully  accepted  by  the  Germans;  and 
thousands  flocked  to  England,  that  they  might 
take  advantage  of  the  rising  tide  of  royal  favor. 
About  four  thousand  of  these  landed  in  the  city 
of  New  York  in  the  month  of  June,  1710.  Many 
of  them  remained  in  the  city,  and  ^Sbrded  evi- 
dence of  their  devotion  to  the  true  faith  of  the 
gospel,  by  promptly  seeking  the  privileges  of 
Christian  fellowship  in  the  congregation  of  Hol- 
land Lutherans  that  had  recently  been  oro-anizcd. 


Ii  EARLY   HISTORY   OF   THE 

The  benevolence  of  Queen  Anne  had  truly  been 
expanded  in  their  favor  upon  a  scale  of  royal 
munificence.  In  the  province  of  'New  York,  that 
tract  of  land  on  which  the  towns  of  ITewburg  and 
New  "Windsor  have  been  built  w^as  allotted  to 
them;  and  the  patent  expressly  stipulates  that  it 
was  granted  for  the  support  of  Lutheran  parish 
schools,  and  ministers  for  the  Germans  who  might 
be  settled  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  river  Hud- 
son.* 

We  know  not  which  most  to  wonder  at, — the 
favors  attempted  to  be  heaped  upon  the  German 
Lutherans  by  the  occupant  of  the  British  throne, 
or  the  apparent  indifference  of  these  Germans 
themselves  to  the  possession  of  such  princely 
domains.  Perhaps  they  had  not  been  correctly 
instructed,  and  did  not  clearly  understand  the  in- 
tentions of  the  queen,  or  perhaps  they  had  learned, 
from  sad  experience,  to  put  no  trust  in  princes. 
Certainly  their  first  care  had  to  be  to  provide  sub- , 
sistence,  to  keep  off"  hunger  andHiakedness  from 
their  families.  In  the  mean  time,  shrewd  specu- 
lators seized  upon  the  royal  grant,  and  were  too 
successful  in  diverting  it  from  those  for  whose 
benefit  it  had  been  intended. 

As  the  fall  of  the  year  approached,  the  great 
mass  of  these  immigrants  set  their  faces  towards 
the  interior,  and,  having  advanced  about  one  hun- 
dred miles  north  of  the  city  of  New  York,  they 

*■  Hazelius's  History,  p.  25. 


LUTHERAN    CHURCH    IN   AMERICA.  73 

occupied  the  homes  allotted  to  them  on  Living- 
ston's manor.  It  was  not  through  lack  of  indus- 
try or  perseverance  that  they  failed  to  prosper. 
The  authorities  of  the  colony  exacted  too  large  a 
portion  of  their  labor  as  payment  for  their  pas- 
sage across  the  water  in  Government  transports. 
Two  or  three  years  w^ere  enough  to  convince  them 
that  the  interests  of  the  whole  required  that  this, 
their  first  settlement,  should  be  at  least  partially 
abandoned.  Accordingly,  one  hundred  and  fifty 
families  resolved  to  advance  farther  into  the  wil- 
derness. 

They  sent  a  committee  of  trusty  men  to  a  neigh- 
boring tribe  of  Indians,  and  obtained  from  them 
the  possession  and  the  good-will  of  a  large  and 
fertile  region  in  Schoharie.  Here,  for  a  few  ^^ears, 
though  often  exhausted  by  hunger  and  worn  down 
by  toil,  they  lived  in  peace  and  prospered.  Their 
ignorance  of  the  ways  of  the  world,  however,  their 
imperturbable  confidence  in  what  they  supposed 
were  the  engagements  and  promises  of  Queen 
Anne,  soon  exposed  them  to  a  series  of  annoyances 
and  troubles  which  dismembered  this  their  second 
settlement,  and  sent  many  of  them  adrift  again  to 
be  lodged  in  some  new  home  of  the  more  distant 
wilderness. 

Supposing  that  the  Indians  had  been  the  sole 
possessors  of  the  soil,  they  were  satisfied  with  the 
conveyance  that  was  executed  by  the  tribe.  It 
never  occurred  to  them  that  it  was  necessary  to 
obtain  patents  or  title-deeds  from  the  royal  gover- 


./ 


J 


74  EARLY   HISTORY   OF   THE 

nor  of  New  York.  They  lived  without  a  preacher, 
without  a  civil  ruler ;  every  one  did  what  w\as  right 
in  his  own  eyes;  they  hunted  with  the  Indians, 
they  attempted  too  to  teach  their  wild  neighbors 
the  arts  of  peace ;  the  forest  fell  and  yielded  its 
place  to  the  waving  grain ;  the  busy  streams  were 
employed  in  advancing  the  useful  operations  of 
the  mill;  seven  villages,  small  but  thrifty,  rose 
beneath  their  industry  and  ministered  to  their 
social  enjoyment,  whilst  the  long  seasons  of  labor 
were  occasionally  relieved  by  manly  sports,  by  in- 
nocent and  temperate  amusements.* 

They  felt  secure,  too  secure,  in  the  possession  of 
their  ground.  The  law  of  nature,  the  law  of  na- 
tions, they  said,  would  protect  them  in  the  enjoy- 
ment of  the  territory  they  had  redeemed  from  the 
wilderness  and  improved  at  the  cost  of  their  own 
sweat  and  blood.  But  the  absence  of  a  legal  title 
under  the  royal  Government  proved  to  be  fatal  to 
their  security  and  their  hopes,  and,  without  any 
intimation  of  the  crafty  designs  of  the  rapacious 
speculators  who  dispossessed  them,  the  ver}^  soil 
was  sold  beneath  their  feet.  In  their  distress  they 
sent  a  delegation  to  England  to  obtain  relief. 
Disasters  by  sea  and  by  land  obstructed  their  pro- 
gress. They  had  been  anticipated  and  forestalled 
by  the  seven  purchasers,  and  they  returned  to  their 
homes  with  the  sorrow  for  their  loss  deepened  by 
the  mortification  of  their  defeat.     The  colou}^  was 


*  Simm's  History  of  Schoharie. 


LUTHERAN    CHURCH    IN    AMERICA.  75 

divided.  Some  families  bowed  to  the  force  of  cir- 
cumstances, and,  taking  a  lease  of  their  farms  as 
otfered  by  the  Proprietors,  remained  at  Schoharie. 
A  large  portion  set  out  in  1T23,  in  company,  to- 
wards the  West.  They  soon  struck  the  Susque- 
hanna, and,  following  its  course,  entered  within  the 
borders  of  Pennsylvania.  A  few  days  of  irregular 
wandering  brought  them  to  the  region  of  the  Tul- 
pehocken  and  the  Swatara;  and  there,  still  among 
the  Indians,  they  sought  to  establish  themselves 
at  a  distance  of  some  seventy  or  ninety  miles  north- 
west of  Philadelphia.* 

Of  the  four  thousand  immigrants  who  arrived 
in  1710,  a  considerable  portion  seem  to  have 
turned  themselves  at  once  towards  the  South  and 
taken  up  their  abode  in  and  around  the  City  of 
Penn.  This  v/as  a  Paradise  of  the  Quakers.  The 
plain  garb,  the  plain  speech  of  the  Friend  were  to 
be  seen  and  heard  everywhere.  The  benevolence 
and  easy  familiarity  of  his  manner,  the  signs  of 
worldly  thrift  that  attended  him,  both  in  town  and 
in  country,  the  talent  for  shrewd  and  close  calcu- 
lation that  seemed  to  be  natural  to  him, — these 
things  were  not  without  effect  in  attracting  the 
attention  of  the  Germans  to  the  Society,  and  ulti- . 
mately  drawing  some  even  of  the  Lutherans  into 
the  fellowship  of  the  Meeting.  Others,  however, 
more  firmly  established  in  their  faith,  though  with- 
out any  of  the  ordinary  privileges  of  religion,  con- 


*  Halle  Reports,  p.  97o,  el  seq. 


76  EARLY   HISTORY   OF   THE 

tinued  in  prayer  and  meditation  to  possess  their 
souls  in  patience  until  the  dawn  of  a  better  day. 

So,  by  a  variety  of  circumstances,  personal  pre- 
ferences, disappointments,  disasters,  providential 
dealings,  it  happened  that  these  four  thousand 
Germans,  with  their  natural  increase,  were  scat- 
tered broadcast  throughout  the  land.  After  fif- 
teen years  of  agitation  and  uncertaint3^  they  are 
all  disposed  of.  They  grow  with  the  growth  of 
New  York  and  Philadelphia;  they  cultivate  the 
soil  upon  the  flats  of  the  Hudson ;  they  are  faitliful 
to  their  engagements  as  tenants  in  Schoharie ;  they 
subdue  and  enliven  the  wilderness  of  Pennsyl- 
vania along  the  Tulpehocken  and  Swatara. 

Of  the  religious  character  of  this  immigration, 
as  far  as  it  was  Lutheran,  we  might  say  much  if 
our  object  were  to  illustrate  personal  experience. 
We  could  show  the  young  man,  who,  though  active, 
bold,  and  enterprising,  yet  bears  the  cross  in  his 
youth  and  seeks  to  refresh  himself  beneath  his 
burden  by  the  faithful  use  of  the  word  of  God 
and  prayer.  We  could  speak  of  the  old  man,  who, 
pressing  on  towards  fourscore  years  and  ten,  and 
being  faithful  unto  death,  grows  eloquent  until 
the  hearts  of  believers  melt  under  his  testimony 
of  the  grace  of  God  in  Christ  upon  his  soul.* 
But  our  duty  at  present  is  rather  to  speak  of  the 
religious  character  of  their  community  at  large. 

The  Lutherans  among  them  were,  for  the  most 

*  Halle  Reports,  pp.  975,  162. 


LUTHERAN  CHUKCH  IN  AMERICA.        77 

part,  sound  in  their  adherence  to  the  Lutheran 
faith,  and  at  heart  desirous  of  transmitting  it, 
pure  and  genuine,  to  their  children.  But  the 
depth  of  their  poverty,  the  necessity  of  immediate 
attention  to  their  daily  wants,  the  uncertainty  of 
their  several  positions  and  movements,  the  ah- 
sence  of  religious  teachers  and  pastors,  and  the 
lack  of  foreign  patronage,  all  combined  to  delay 
and  prevent  the  construction  of  congregations, 
and  the  erection  of  houses  suitable  for  the  pur- 
poses of  public  worship.  The  party  that  remained 
from  the  beginning  in  the  city  of  Few  York,  in 
seeking  the  fellowship  of  the  Church,  and  in  all 
their  active  efforts  to  advance  the  Lutheran  faith, 
indicated  what  their  brethren  would  have  done  in 
the  interior,  had  their  circumstances  been  at  all 
favorable  to  a  general  movement  on  behalf  of  the 
Church.  There  was  a  will,  but  there  was  no  way; 
and  this  second  period  of  immigration  is  lost  in 
the  third  before  these  beneficiaries  of  Queen  Anne 
are  permitted  to  welcome  a  pastor  amongst  them, 
or  to  unite  in  public  worship  within  any  enclosure 
more  dignified  than  a  barn  or  a  hovel  of  frame- 
work. 

During  the  third  period,  extending  from  172S1 
to  17BQ,  the  immigration  of  German  Lutherans; 
brought  large  additions  to  the  materials  about  to  i 
be  used  in  the  establishment  of  the  Church  in 
America.  The  arrival  of  several  companies  with 
pastors  of  established  character,  having  the  over- 
sight of  the  flock,  led  several  of  the  earlier  settle- 


T8  EARLY   HISTORY    OF    THE 

raents  to  take  a  step  or  two  in  advance  of  all  their 
former  progress.  Those  in  ITewYork  and  those 
in  ISTew  Jersey  sent  imjDloring  letters  to  Holland 
and  to  Hamburg,  in  answer  to  which  they  re- 
ceived from  abroad  now  an  acceptable  pastor, 
then  books  of  devotion,  and  then,  again,  pecu- 
niar}^ contributions  for  the  erection  and  support 
both  of  the  school  and  of  the  Church. 

Indeed,  during  the  whole  of  this  period  there 
was  much  agitation  of  a  kind  peculiarly  calcu- 
lated to  animate  pious  Lutherans  with  earnest 
longings  for  religious  privileges,  and  for  the  order 
and  fellowship  of  their  own  Church.  With  the 
increase  of  population  from  abroad  there  came 
also  an  increase  in  the  variety  of  sects  and  doc- 
trines and  opinions.  The  number  of  those  who 
forsook  the  word  of  the  Lord  and  turned  aside 
from  the  form  of  the  Lutheran  faith  appeared 
to  grow  from  year  to  year.  The  fathers  of 
strange  sects,  the  heads  of  new  parties,  religious 
adventurers,  scheming  fanatics,  who  knew  well 
how  to  pervert  the  language  of  Scripture  to  gain 
their  own  ends,  who  could  clothe  error  with  such 
a  garb  of  sanctimoniousness  as  to  mislead  and 
seduce  many,  came  on,  thronging  the  settlements 
of  the  Germans.  They  derided  the  Lutheran 
Church ;  they  sought,  by  persecution  or  by  blan- 
dishments, to  move  her  children  from  their  stead- 
fastness; and  their  success  was  often  such  as  to 
cause  great  grief  in  the  hearts  of  those  who  had 
been  taught  by  our  Confession  to  believe  only  in 


LITTIIEllAN    CIIURCU    IN    AMERICA.  79 

God  and  in  the  word  of  his  grace.  Then  the 
word  of  the  Lord  was  precious  in  the  land :  there 
was  no  open  vision.  The  soul,  afflicted  in  the 
dreary  night,  sighs  for  the  morning ;  and  the  Lu- 
therans, who  loved  the  Church  and  had  ever  de- 
lighted in  her  sweet  communion,  grieved  by  the 
devastation  they  saw  around  them,  sighed  and 
prayed  for  pastors  who  might  go  in  and  out 
amongst  them,  who  might  instruct  their  children 
in  the  faith,  and  who,  as  true  and  holy  men, 
might,  with  the  divine  blessing,  defend  them  and 
their  Church  against  all  opposers. 

And  the  Lord  had  respect  to  the  desires  of  them 
that  loved  Zion.  The  holy  office  was  sometimes 
assumed  by  worthless  men  who  had  been  de- 
graded in  Germany,  or  by  ignorant  schoolmasters, 
who  had  a  tact  for  winning  confidence,  and  an 
ambition  to  lord  it  over  the  Church.  But  even 
in  the  midst  of  this  destitution  and  danger,  there 
were  still  some  pastors  and  teachers  raised  up  for 
the  work  of  the  ministry  for  the  edifying  of  the 
body  of  Christ.  The  pastors  Hinkle,  Falkner,  and 
Stoever,  belong  to  this  period, — Knochendahler, 
Berckenmeyer,  Knoll,  Wolf,  and  Hartwich.  They 
labored  not  wholly  in  vain  ;  but  the  lives  of  some 
of  them  were  cut  short,  and  the  success  of  others 
was  limited  by  the  unprofitable  agitations  and 
conflicts  in  the  midst  of  which  they  lived. 

The  fourth  period  of  immigration  extended  from 
1730  to  1742.  The  desires  that  had  been  felt  in 
many  places  for   the   regular   ordinances  of  the 


80  EARLY   HISTORY    OF    THE 

Clmrcb,  and  previously  expressed   in  urgent  let- 
ters to  tlie  fatherland,  began   now  to  .ripen  into 
/  healthy,  vigorous  action.     The  Lutherans  in  Phila- 
j    delphia  had  united  in  the  organization  of  a  church. 
1    Those  who  had  settled  thirty  or  forty  miles  north- 
I   west  of  the  city — in  Providence  and  ]^ew  Hano- 
ver— had  taken  the  same  measures.     I^ot  willing 
to  countenance  the  pretensions  of  the  worthless 
schoolmasters  who  were  prowling  around  making 
havoc  of  the  flock,  they  applied  to  the  Swedish 
Ministerium,  and  obtained  from  them  such  services 
as  were  necessary  for  the  instruction  and  confirma- 
tion of  the  young,  and  such  as  a  communion-sea- 
son might  require.     But  the   Swedes  were  over- 
burdened with  the  i^are  of  their  own  flocks;  and 
this,  added  to  the  difliculty  they  found  in  attempt- 
^  ing  to  minister  in  the  German  tongue,  showed, 
from  the  first,  that  this  arrangement  could  not  be 
long   continued.     Meanwhile,  the  children  were 
growing  up  in  ignorance,  save  in  those  few  cases 
in  which  the  piety  and  intelligence  of  the  parents 
could  train  them  to  an  experimental  knowledge  of 
God  and  of  divine  things.    The  Lutheran  faith  was 
exposed  to  reproach  by  the  infamy  of  those  who 
had  forced  themselves,  uncalled  and  unqualified, 
into  the  pastoral  oflice;  and  reflecting  minds  and 
believing  hearts  both  saw  and  felt  that  what  ought 
.    to  be  done  must  needs  be  done  quickly. 
I        Accordingly,  in  the  year  1733,  the  congregations 
\  in  Philadelphia,  Providence,  and  Kcw  Hanover,  sent 
a  delegation  of  their  brethren  to  Europe  to  repre- 


LUTHERAN    CIIUKCH    IxY   AMERICA.  81 

sent  their  spiritual  necessities,  both  in  England 
and  in  Germany,  to  collect  funds  for  the  building 
of  churches  and  school-houses,  and  especiall}'  to 
enlist,  for  the  service  of  the  Church  in  America, 
such  G:ood  and  faithful  men  as  mis-ht  be  willins; 
and  competent  to  bear  the  pastoral  office  amongst 
them.*  The  principal  member  of  this  delegation 
was  Daniel  Weissiger,  of  Philadelphia,  whose  name 
deserves  to  be  held  in  remembrance  for  his  intelli- 
gent devotion  to  the  interests  of  the  Church,  and 
for  his  laborious  enterprise  on  her  behalf 

Passing  through  England,  they  waited  upon 
Rev.  Dr.  Ziegenhagen,  Court-preacher  in  Lon- 
don, and  were  greatly  encouraged  by  his  prompt 
and  generous  co-operation.  He  furnished  them 
with  letters  of  commendation  to  his  friends  and 
brethren  in  Germany;  he  appealed  to  them  on 
behalf  of  the  poor  famishing  lambs  and  flocks  of 
Jesus  Christ  in  America ;  he  plead  hard  that  some 
refreshment  at  least  might  be  sent  before  they 
would  utterly  perish  ;  he  made  a  personal  applica- 
tion to  the  Rev.  Dr.  and  Professor  Francke,  in 
Halle;  he  enforced  these  appeals  by  raising  funds 
and  procuring  the  books  most  necessary  for  spirit- 
ual instruction,  to  be  at  once  distributed  amongst 
the  German  Lutherans  in  America. 

Upon  their  arrival  in  Germany  the  delegation 
were  kindly  received.  In  addition  to  their  per- 
sonal labors,  they  used  the  agency  of  the  press  in 

*  Halle  Reports,  p.  4. 


bZ  EARLY   HISTORY    OF    THE 

spreading  their  wants  before  their  brethren.  En- 
couraged b}^  the  patronage  and  approbation  of  the 
Eev.  Drs.  Pfeitfer  in  Leipsic,  and  Franeke  in  Halle, 
Pastor  Maier  and  Senior  Urlsperger  in  Augs- 
burg, they  met  with  warm  hearts  and  fervent 
prayers  and  material  aid  everywhere.  The  funds, 
however,  were  not  large;  and,  as  though  their  main 
object  had  been  to  secure  pastors  for  the  flock,  Weis- 
siger  and  his  colleagues  made  this  the  subject  of 
their  last  appeal,  previous  to  their  journey  home : — 
^'  Send  us  pastors  who  will  teach  us  and  our  children 
in  the  word  of  God,  Avho  will  administer  the  holy 
sacraments  in  our  congregations,  and  under  their 
direction  we  have  reason  to  believe  that  every  thing 
can  be  established  and  ordered  in  a  Christian  way."* 

Yet,  after  all,  years  elapsed  and  no  pastor  arrived. 
Letter  after  letter  was  forwarded,  both  to  Eng- 
land and  to  Germany,  from  the  three  associated 
congregations.  The  unwillingness  of  the  brethren 
in  Germany  to  send  any  but  a  faithful,  competent 
man,  the  difficulty  they  met  w^ith  in  their  efforts  to 
obtain  the  consent  of  such  men  to  cross  the  ocean 
for  the  West, — these  were  amongst  the  principal 
reasons  of  the  long  delay.  At  length,  in  1741, 
Providence  opened  the  way  for  the  calling  of  the 
Eev.  Henry  Melchior  Muhlenberg,  as  pastor  of  the 
churches  in  and  around  Philadelphia,  and  for  his 
acceptance  of  the  post. 

Muhlenberg,  having  left  the  scene  of  his  earlier 


■"  Ilalle  llcports 


LUTHERAN    CHURCH    IN    AMERICA.  83 

labors  in  Lusatia,  aiTived  in  England  April  17, 
1742.  After  a  sojourn  of  about  nine  weeks,  ga- 
thering refreshment  of  spirit  and  strength  for  his 
work  from  his  frequent  intercourse  with  Dr.  Zie- 
genhagen,  chaplain  of  George  II.,  he  embarked 
in  a  vessel  bound  for  Charleston,  South  Carolina, 
and  landed  in  that  city  September  21.  Though 
his  destination  was  Philadelphia,  there  were  never- 
theless sufficient  reasons  for  bending  his  course 
towards  this  Southern  port. 

In  the  year  1734,  and  subsequently^  matters  of 
great  importance  in  the  history  of  the  Lutheran 
Church  were  transpiring  in  this  portion  of  the 
colonies.  A  violent  and  relentless  persecution — a 
persecution  even  unto  death — had  been  started  and 
kept  up  from  year  to  year,  by  the  Popish  authori- 
ties and  their  people,  against  the  Protestants  of 
Salzburg,  then  the  most  eastern  district  of  Bavaria. 
The  sympathies  of  Christians,  not  only  on  the 
continent  but  even  in  England,  were  aroused  on 
their  behalf.  The  original  object  of  the  chartered 
company  of  "Trustees  for  Establishing  the  Colony 
of  Georgia"  was  to  provide  a  home  and  the  means 
of  subsistence  for  the  indio'ent  inhabitants  of  Great 
Britain.  The  distresses  of  the  Lutherans  of  Salz- 
burg induced  the  Trustees  to  extend  the  wing  of 
their  protection  over  them ;  and  so  they  avowed 
the  additional  object  of  "furnishing  a  refuge  for 
the  distressed  Salzburgers  and  other  Protestants."* 

*  Strobel's  History  of  Siilzburgers,  p.  45. 


84  EARLY   HISTORY    OF    THE 

The  benevolence  of  this  company  provoked  the 
"Society  for  the  Propagation  of  Christian  Know- 
ledge" to  good  Avorks.  This  society  had  already 
been  actively  engaged  in  building  churches,  and 
providing  pastors  and  supporting  them,  for  the 
members  of  the  Church  of  England  in  the  colo- 
nies. Learning  the  action  of  the  "Trustees"  on 
behalf  of  the  Salzburgers,  it  began  to  interest 
itself  for  their  removal  to  Georgia.  A  liberal  grant 
of  money  to  the  colony  in  Georgia,  made  by  the 
British  Parliament,  together  with  several  thousand 
pounds  raised  by  private  contributions,  enabled 
the  "Trustees"  to  carry  out  their  designs  in  regard 
to  the  Salzburgers.  They  invited  fifty  families  to 
remove  to  Georgia,  promising  them  liberal  grants 
of  land,  and  provision  until  their  lands  could  be 
made  available  for  their  own  support. 

The  first  company  of  emigrants  consisted  of 
forty-two  men,  wdth  their  families, — numbering  in 
all  seventy-eight  souls.  In  the  city  of  Augsburg, 
where  they  halted  to  refresh  themselves,  they  were 
cheered  by  the  affectionate  kindness  of  the  Lu- 
theran pastors  and  their  flocks.  Here  they  had  an 
opportunity  of  personal  intercourse  with  the  Rev. 
Senior  Urlsperger,  so  long  the  benevolent  and  the 
active  friend  of  the  Lutheran  Church  in  America. 
Li  the  city  of  Rotterdam  they  first  met  those  two 
devoted  men,  John  Martin  Bolzius  and  Israel 
Christian  Gronau,  who  at  that  time  took  their 
post  as  the  pastors  of  the  exiles,  afterwards  shared 
with  them  all  the  vicissitudes  of  their  wanderings 


LUTHERAN    CIIURCII    IN   AMERICA.  00 

by  sea  and  by  land,  and,  like  Moses  and  Aaron, 
were  great  in  counsel  and  faithful  in  labor,  even 
unto  death. 

After  a  short  sojourn  in  England,  they  embarked 
for  America,  and  reached  the  city  of  Charleston, 
South  Carolina,  in  the  month  of  March,  1734. 
There  they  were  at  once  welcomed  by  the  benevo- 
lence and  aided  by  the  judicious  counsel  of  the 
good  General  Oglethorpe,  who  had  led  over  the 
first  colony  of  English  settlers,  early  in  the  year 
1733.  Having  refreshed  themselves  by  a  few 
days'  repose  in  Charleston,  they  passed  on  to  the 
city  of  Savannah,  and  encamped  in  its  vicinity 
until  arrangements  were  made  for  their  permanent 
location.  This  duty  was  undertaken  by  a  "corps 
of  observation,"  who  selected  a  district  some  thirty 
miles  in  the  interior,  in  what  is  now  called  Effing- 
ham county,  Georgia.  The  exiles  themselves  ap- 
proved of  the  choice.  Arriving  upon  the  ground 
with  their  wives  and  their  little  ones,  they  set  up 
a  rock;  they  broke  the  silence  of  the  wilderness  as 
they  sang  a  hymn  of  praise;  they  sought  the  bless- 
ing of  the  Lord  with  the  earnest  voice  of  prayer ; 
they  said,  "Hitherto  the  Lord  hath  helped  us;" 
and  so,  in  the  language  of  their  excellent  historian, 
"was  the  foundation  laid  for  the  Colony  of  the 
Salzburgers."* 

Upon  this  the  superstructure   gradually  arose; 

*  Strobcl's  History  of  Salzburgers,  chap.  iii. 


86  EARLY   HISTORY    OF   THE 

and  the  additions  made  from  time  to  time  served 
not  only  to  enlarge  the  external  circumstances, 
but  also  to  improve  the  spiritual  condition,  of  the 
colony.  Early  in  the  year  1735,  there  arrived  a 
second  company  of  Salzburgers,  numbering  fifty- 
seven  persons;  and  towards  the  close  of  the  same 
year  occurred  what  they  called  "the  Great  Em- 
barkation." Upon  a  visit  of  their  friend  General 
Oglethorpe  to  England,  he  was  able  to  make  such 
representations  to  the  "Trustees"  as  inclined  them 
to  be  even  more  active  and  enterprising  than  they 
had  ever  been,  in  building  up  and  confirming  the 
colony  at  Ebenezer,  as  their  plac^  was  called. 
The  operations  of  the  "Trustees"  in  the  settle- 
ments of  Georgia  were  no  longer  an  experiment. 
Their  announcement  that  they  w^ould  provide  for 
the  transportation  of  a  given  number  of  persons 
of  approved  character  was  answ^ered  by  the  appli- 
cation of  above  twelve  hundred  persons  to  be  sent 
to  Georgia.  With  a  commendable  solicitude  for 
the  welfare  of  their  infant  colonies,  they  resolved 
to  encourage  none  but  the  worthy,  and  those 
whose  characters  and  habits  might  be  of  advantage 
to  the  settlement.  Accordingly,  at  this  time  they 
extended  their  benevolence  chiefly  to  Highlanders 
from  Scotland  and  persecuted  Salzburgers  from 
Germany. 

In  the  month  of  October,  1735,  two  ships  set 
sail  from  Gravesend,  bound  for  Georgia,  with  a 
company  of  emigrants  amounting  to  two  hun- 
dred and  twenty-seven  persons.     Of  these  there 


LUTHERAN   CHURCH   IN    AMERICA.  87 

were  about  eighty  Salzburgers.  The  whole  cha- 
racter of  the  company  thus  thrown  together,  for 
the  first  time,  upon  the  eve  of  a  perilous  voyage, 
its  whole  character  in  all  its  variations,  was  such 
as  to  entitle  it  to  special  notice. 

There  were  the  Highlanders  and  the  Salzburgers 
and  a  few^  Moravians,  peasants,  or  laborers,  or  me- 
chanics, having  nothing  of  this  world's  goods,  but 
rich  in  the  treasures  that  come  from  above. 
"Whether  the  ocean  was  calm  or  convulsed,  these 
poor  Germans — the  men,  the  women,  the  very 
children— had  the  happy  faculty  of  always  dis- 
cerning the  divine  presence  at  their  side  :  whether 
they  were  wafted  on  by  breeze  or  gale,  or  fiercely 
tossed  by  storms,  they  felt  that  the  eternal  God 
was  their  refuge,  and  that  always  underneath  them 
were  the  everlasting  arms.  Trouble  might  melt 
the  souls  of  their  companions,  as  on  the  raging 
billows  they  mounted  up  to  heaven  and  went 
down  again  to  the  depths;  but  no  trouble  was 
able  to  disturb  their  serenity :  the  Lord  keepeth 
them  in  perfect  peace  whose  faith  is  stayed  on 
him.  Associated  with  them  in  this  voyage  was 
Oglethorpe,  himself  the  friend  and  patron  of  the 
Salzburgers  already  in  Georgia.  Of  him  the 
pastors  in  Ebenezer  testified,  "He  bears  great 
love  to  the  servants  and  children  of  God."  He 
was  the  constant  benefactor  of  the  Lutherans. 
His  heart  throbbed  w^armly  for  all  around  him ; 
he  loved  to  relieve  the  indigent,  to  soothe  the 
mourner ;  and  his  name  became  known  as  another 


88  EARLY   HISTORY   OF    THE 

expression  for  ''vast  benevolence  of  sonl."'*'  In 
the  same  company  were  John  and  Charles  Wes- 
ley, the  latter  the  secretary  of  Oglethorpe,  and  the 
former  going,  as  a  preacher  of  the  gospel,  upon  a 
mission  to  the  Indians.  The  interest  of  the  Wes- 
leys  in  divine  truth  was  such  as  to  render  them 
susceptible  of  any  impressions  of  the  Holy  Spirit 
that  might  reach  them  ;  and  their  religious  expe- 
rience had  been  so  confined,  that  much  enlarge- 
ment was  needed  as  a  preparation  for  the  im- 
portant duties  that  were  before  them. 

To  them  these  persecuted  Lutherans  preached 
the  gospel,  not  in  word,  but  in  deed  and  in  power. 
V  Having  heard  how  calmly  and  peacefully  the  Salz- 
burgers  could  sing  the  praise  of  God  when  every 
heart  was  quaking  and  some  were  almost  dead 
with  terror  in  the  storm,  Mr.  Wesley  himself  felt 
that  the  religion  of  his  own  experience  was  en- 
tirely destitute  of  that  calm,  attractive,  confiding, 
and  heroic  spirit  which  these  Germans  had  exem- 
plified in  the  time  of  trial.  He  approached  one 
of  these  believing  men  : — "Were  you  not  afraid  ?" 
The  German  replied,  "I  thank  God,  no!"  "But 
were  not  your  women  and  children  afraid?" 
"No  !  Our  women  and  children  are  not  afraid  to 
die."  Strange  feelings  were  aroused  in  the  heart 
of  the  great  founder  of  Methodism.  Conviction 
seized  upon  him.  lie  felt  that  he  was  himself  yet 
unconverted, — that. his  heart  was  not  right  in  the 

*  Bancroft's  United  States,  vol.  iii.  chap.  24. 


LUTHERAN    CHURCH    IX    AMERICA.  b\) 

sight  of  God.  Ill  the  spirit  of  meekness  he 
humbled  himself  under  the  mighty  hand,  he  took 
counsel  with  them  who  knew  the  Lord,  and  at 
length,  after  the  lapse  of  two  years,  and  subse- 
quent to  his  return  to  England,  he  found  peace  in 
believing.  This  occurred  at  a  Moravian  prayer- 
meeting,  during  the  reading  of  Luther's  Preface 
to  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans.* 

The  majority  of  the  Salzburgers  in  this  com- 
pany were  speedily  added  to  the  colony  of  their 
brethren  in  Ebenezer.  Erom  the  character  of  the 
materials  thus  far  described,  and  the  workmen  by 
whose  skill  they  were  to  be  moulded,  it  might  be 
expected  that  the  settlement  of  the  Salzburgers 
would  occupy  altogether  a  prominent  position  in 
Georgia,  and  exert  a  lasting  influence  for  good. 
As  a  whole,  there  seems  to  have  been  a  more  pre- 
valent piety  amongst  them — a  more  general  and 
harmonious  obedience  to  the  dictates  of  elevated 
Christian  principle — than  was  usually  displayed 
by  the  German  colonists  of  the  I^orth.  jSTo  sooner 
do  they  take  possession  of  the  wilderness  than  a 
tabernacle  is  set  up  for  the  Lord.  This  is  speedily 
followed  by  provision  for  the  education  of  the 
children :  then  an  asylum  for  the  lonely  orphan 
succeeds.  So,  whilst  their  brethren  in  the  faith  in 
Pennsylvania  and  adjacent  States  were  clamoring 
for  help  from  abroad,  or  flying  like  sheep  in  the 
midst    of    wolves,    the    Lutherans    of   Ebenezer 

*  Strobel's  History  of  Salzburgers. 

6-^ 


90  EARLY   HISTORY    OF    THE 

steadily  cherish  and  exercise  the  grace  of  God 
in  their  own  souls,  and  harmoniously  co-operate 
in  building  up  his  kingdom  amongst  men. 

It  was  greatly  to  their  advantage  that,  from  the 
time  of  their  first  arrival,  they  enjoyed  the  over- 
sight of  those  two  faithful  pastors,  Bolzius  and 
Gronau.  It  was  of  immense  service  that  Url- 
sperger  and  Francke  in  Germany,  and  Ziegen- 
hagen  in  England, — those  venerable  and  eminent 
fathers  in  the  Lutheran  Church, — were  so  deeply 
interested  on  their  behalf.  Without  this  patron- 
age, and  the  unity  of  spirit  and  action  that  it  pro- 
moted, they  might  have  lived  in  almost  utter  des- 
titution and  forgetfulness  of  religious  privileges, 
like  the  early  colonists  of  Schoharie ;  they  might 
have  been  distracted  by  the  impositions  of  igno- 
rant and  crafty  pretenders  to  the  pastoral  office, 
like  the  unsuspecting  farmers  of  New  Hanover.* 
From  the  beginning,  Urlsperger,  Francke,  and 
Ziegenhagen  were  particularly  prominent  in 
making  the  arrangements  for  their  emigration 
and  settlement.  The  high  character  of  these 
Lutheran  divines  is  a  sufficient  evidence  that  the 
persons  whom  they  agreed  to  recommend  as  the 
guides  and  spiritual  teachers  of  the  Salzburgers 
were  no  ordinary  men. 

Bolzius  and  Gronau  then  had  had  a  deep  per- 
sonal experience  in  the  ways  of  the  Lord.  As 
Lutherans,  they  had  been  taught  by  the  Confes- 

*  Stoever's  Memoir  of  Muhlenberg,  p.  53. 


LUTHERAN    CHURCH    IN    AMERICA.  91 

sion  of  the  Church  to  build  their  faith  upon  no- 
thing but  the  inspired  word,  and  to  esteem  it 
abov-e  all  earthly  price.  Their  administrative 
qualities  were  discreet  and  energetic,  patient  and 
commanding.  They  understood  well  the  responsi- 
bilities of  the  post  they  occupied,  and  took  the 
oversight  of  the  flock  not  for  filthy  lucre's  sake, 
but  of  a  ready  mind.  Their  piety,  as  manifested 
by  their  works,  excited  the  admiration  of  AYhite- 
field,  for  it  appeared  to  him  to  be  of  that  high 
order  that  is  very  rarely  seen.*  The  fruits  of 
their  labor,  as  they  grew  and  ripened  at  Ebenezer 
in  peace  and  industry,  in  moral  purity  and  Chris- 
tian love,  presented  to  the  eyes  of  strangers  and 
visitors  all  the  appearance  of  a  field  which  the 
Lord  hath  blessed. 

From  the  time  of  its  foundation  until  the  year 
1741,  over  twelve  hundred  German  Protestants 
had  arrived  in  the  colony.  By  the  blessing  of  the 
Lord  upon  the  faithful  labors  of  their  pastors, 
their  town  was  marked  b}^  neatness  and  pleasant- 
ness. ]^o  drunken,  no  idle,  no  profligate  people 
were  amongst  them ;  industry  and  harmony  pre- 
vailed, souls  were  converted  by  the  word  of  God, 
and  believers  were  edified. 

All  these  circumstances,  and  many  more  of  an 
interesting  character,  were  well  known  by  those 
Lutheran  pastors  in  England  and  in  Germany 
who  had  been  so  active  as  the  friends  and  patrons 

*  Strobcl's  History,  p.  110. 


92  EARLY    HISTORY    OF   THE 

of  the  colony.  Iso  less  coucerned  about  the  la- 
bors of  Muhlenberg  in  the  North,  than  they  had 
ever  been  about  those  of  Bolzius  and  Gronau  in 
the  South,  they  wished  him  to  enjoy  from  the 
beginning  all  the  benefits  that  might  be  derived 
from  the  experience  of  the  pastors  at  Ebenezer. 

As  they  dismissed  him  for  the  field  allotted  to 
him  in  Pennsylvania,  "Go,"  said  they,  "go  first 
of  all  to  our  brethren  in  Georgia ;  seek  the  acquaint- 
ance of  Bolzius  and  Gronau,  the  experienced  pas- 
tors of  the  Salzburgers ;  confer  with  them  about 
the  duties  that  are  before  you ;  learn  from  them 
the  peculiarities  of  the  country  and  the  best  plans 
I    of  operating  amongst  its  people :  you  may  expect 
I    that  if  it  is  possible  Bolzius  himself  will  accom- 
pany you  to  Pennsylvania,  and  so  effect  for  you 
an   easy  entrance   into   the  field  of  your  future 
J     labors." 

/         It  was   in   pursuance  of  these   directions   that 
/      Muhlenberg  landed   in  Charleston.     Having   en- 
'       joyed  two  days'  repose  in  this  city,  he  went  to  Sa- 
vannah.   Here  he  first  met  Pastor  Gronau,  and  in 
company  with  him  rode  to  Ebenezer.     His  voyage 
had  been  one  of  great  peril  and  exhaustion.     He 
n/  required  time  to  refresh  himself.     Eight  days — the 
whole  period  of  his  stay  at  Ebenezer — were  taken 
for  this  purpose;  but  the  spirituality  of  his  own 
character,  as  well  as  of  the  pastors  of  Ebenezer,  is 
shown  in  the  fact,  that  all  three  united  many  times 
during  those  eight  days  in  seeking  strength  and 
refreshment  from  the  word  of  God.      With  his 


LUTHERAN   CHURCH   IN   AMERICA.  93 

diligent  attention  to  tlic  duties  that  had  drawn 
him  thither,  the  time  was  long  enough  to  make 
him  feel  anxious  to  begin  his  own  appropriate 
work.  With  these  brethren  he  might  well  have 
felt  at  home,  so  sweet  was  their  fellowship,  so 
attractive  were  their  external  circumstances,  and, 
in  spiritual  things,  so  promising  was  the  future. 
Upoa  the  eve  of  bidding  them  farewell,  he  wrote 
in  his  diary,  "So  I  must  leave  Ebenezer.  The 
worthy  patrons  and  benefactors  in  Europe  have 
not  exercised  their  benevolence  in  vain,  for  I  have 
here  seen  the  reality  of  the  reports  that  have  been 
published  in  Germany.  In  many  respects,  things 
are  even  in  a  much  better  condition  than  I  had 
been  led  to  anticipate.  I  am  astonished  at  the 
signs  of  external  prosperity;  and,  in  regard  to  the 
spirit,  the  prospects  of  the  harvest  are  bright  and 
glorious."  The  Christian  affection  he  felt  for 
these  brethren  was  fully  reciprocated,  and  an 
earnest  of  it  was  afforded  by  the  fact  that  Bolzius, 
notwithstanding  many  serious  difficulties,  resolved 
to  accompany  him  to  Pennsylvania. 

They  set  out  for  Charleston  October  12,  1742. 
Upon  their  arrival  here,  they  learn  that  no  vessel 
would  be  likely  to  sail  for  Philadelphia  before  the 
following  spring,  and  that  the  journey  by  land 
was  altogether  out  of  the  question.  Thus  arrested 
almost  at  the  very  threshold,  they  submit.  Bol- 
zius returns  to  his  post  at  Ebenezer,  and  Muhlen- 
berg collects  and  instructs  the  German  children 
of  Charleston,  and,  like  Paul  in  Rome,  expounds 


94  EARLY   HISTORY   OF   THE 

and  testifies    the  kingdom   of   God  to   all  who 
would  come  to  him  upon  the  Lord's  day. 

The  passage  of  Muhlenberg  from  Charleston  to 
Philadelphia  is  indicative  at  once  of  his  heroic 
and  confiding  spirit.  On  the  1st  of  November,  a 
sloop — a  crazy  sloop — arrived  from  Philadelphia, 
with  the  intention  of  speedily  returning  to  that 
port.  In  this  vessel  he  resolved  to  set  sail.  All 
his  friends  united  to  dissuade  him :  the  captain  of 
the  sloop  himself  said  the  vessel  was  too  small ;  it 
had  no  accommodations  for  passengers ;  it  was  the 
winter-season,  and  then  the  voyage  was  a  very  dan- 
gerous one.  In  defiance  of  these  cautious  argu- 
ments, he  responded  only  to  the  calls  of  duty. 
He  had  seen  in  the  public  prints  such  representa- 
tions of  the  aflairs  of  the  Church  in  the  ]N"orth  as 
increased  his  anxiety  to  be  there.  So,  on  the  12th 
of  November,  he  betook  himself  on  board  the 
sloop,  and  on  the  same  day,  in  the  name  of  the 
Lord,  set  sail  for  Philadelphia.  On  this  vessel  he 
passed  two  weeks  of  severe  trial,  drenched  with 
rain,  chilled  with  frost,  sick  and  exhausted ;  yet  he 
arrived  safely  at  the  desired  port  at  last.* 

*  Halle  Reports. 


LUTHERAN   CHURCH   IN  AMERICA.  95 


CHAPTER  V. 

ORGANIZATION  OF  GERMAN  CHURCHES. 

The  judicious  and  persevering  efforts  of  the  con- 
gregations in  and  around  Philadelphia,  to  secure 
the  ministry  of  ahle  and  faithful  pastors,  may  be 
regarded  as  the  indications  of  a  certain  prominence 
belono:iuo;  to  them  in  the  Lutheran  Church  in 
America.  There  was  something  in  the  province 
of  Pennsylvania  (shall  we  say  it  was  the  fertility 
of  the  soil,  it  was  the  salubrity  of  its  climate?)  that 
rendered  it  especially  interesting  and  attractive  to 
the  Germans.  Muhlenberg,  in  giving  his  first 
impressions,  which  he  never  saw  reason  to  alter, 
described  it  as  a  land  flowing  with  milk  and 
honey, — as  the  best  of  all  the  regions  of  the  con- 
tinent for  his  countrymen.  Such  was  the  prevail- 
ing sentiment.  There  were  Germans  in  Georgia, 
at  Ebenezer  and  Savannah ;  there  were  Germans 
in  the  province  of  Maine,  at  Waldoboro,  near  the 
head  of  Muscongus  Bay;  there  were  Germans  at 
New  York,  and  along  the  Hudson,  and  west  of 
Albany.  In  the  course  of  time  the  population  of 
these  several  settlements  was  increased  by  various 
additions  from  abroad.  But  towards  Philadelphia 
and  the  inland  regions  of  Pennsylvania  the  tide 
of  immigration  was  especially  steady  and  strong. 


Pd  early  history  of  the 

In  the  autumn  of  1750,  twenty  vessels  arrived 
at  Philadelphia  with  twelve  thousand  Germans  on 
board.  Each  of  the  two  years  immediately  follow- 
ing brought  almost  as  large  a  number.  Through 
all  these  multitudes  there  ran  a  strong  current  of 
generous  sympathy.  They  were  fellow-country- 
men; they  had  become  companions  in  trial  and 
adventure.  The  movements  of  any  considerable 
portion  w^ould  be  apt  to  excite  the  interest  of  all 
the  rest;  and  whether  they  remained  in  Philadel- 
phia, or  spread  themselves  over  the  regions  that 
now  belong  to  the  counties  of  Bucks,  Lehigh, 
ISTorthampton,  Berks,  Lancaster,  Dauphin,  and 
Cumberland,  in  Pennsylvania,  the  developments 
of  any  particular  part  might  be  regarded  by  us  as 
a  fair  specimen  of  the  spirit  of  the  whole. 

This  is  especially  true  of  those  who,  whether  in 
city  or  in  the  inland  regions,  were  united  in  the 
fellowship  of  the  faith.  The  Lutherans  of  Phila- 
delphia and  its  vicinity,  therefore,  may  be  regarded 
as  fair  representatives  of  the  Lutheran  Church; 
and  a  history  of  their  progress,  though  it  would 
contain  many  local  facts,  might  nevertheless  be,  in 
its  spirit,  a  correct  history  of  many  years  of  the 
Church  in  America. 

So  Muhlenberg  arrived  in  Philadelphia,  and 
there  lay  the  labors  of  a  Hercules  before  him. 
He  had  not  only  had  no  one  to  prepare  the  way, 
but,  on  the  contrary,  there  were  many  circum- 
,  stances  and  various  personages  that  combined  to 
block  up  the  way  and  impede  his  progress.     He 


LUTHERAX    CHURCH    IN    AMERICA.  97 

compared  the  condition  of  the  Lutherans  with  that 
of  the  members  of  other  Churches  in  Phihadel- 
phia;  he  compared  it  with  that  of  the  Lutherans 
in  the  fatherland;  and  he  felt  that  it  was  deplora- 
ble enough  to  draw  forth  tears  of  blood.  Scat- 
tered by  hundreds,  yea,  thousands,  through  the 
land,  were  people  who,  according  to  their  baptism, 
their  education  and  confirmation,  ought  to  have 
been  active  members  of  the  Lutheran  Church. 
Yet  they  lived  w^ithout  the  enjoyment  of  religious 
privileges,  many  of  them  without  even  the  desire 
for  that  enjoyment.  The  children  were  growing 
up  without  baptism,  without  religious  instruction; 
they  were  verging  fast  on  to  heathenism,  or  start- 
ing off,  on  this  side  and  on  that,  towards  some  one 
or  other  of  the  many  sects  and  parties  with  which 
the  land  was  filled.  Unbelievers  of  various  names 
and  shades  and  nations  were  not  unfrequently 
encountered ;  and  the  condition  of  the  Lutheran 
Church,  in  a  word,  was  altogether  such  as  might 
be  expected  to  result  from  thirty  years  of  con- 
fusion, disorder,  and  neglect. 

The  little  flock  that  still  pretended  to  keep  up 
the  form  and  to  cherish  the  spirit  of  our  faith, 
both  in  Philadelphia  and  its  vicinity,  had  been 
distracted  and  laid  waste  by  crafty  intruders  into 
the  pastoral  ofiice.  Men  who,  for  good  reasons, 
had  been  deposed  from  the  Lutheran  ministry  in 
Europe,  and  men  w^ho,  for  good  reasons,  might 
claim  pre-eminence  in  other  churches,  had  un- 
dertaken   to    pass    themselves   oil'   as    Lutlierau 


98  EARLY    HISTORY    OF    THE 

clergymen.  For  a  while  they  succeeded  in  their 
schemes.  They  ohtained  a  position ;  they  ma- 
naged affairs  ;  they  had  things  all  their  own  way ; 
and,  as  the  last  of  the  long  series  of  calamities 
with  which  the  Church  was  afflicted,  they  en- 
tered in  where  disorder  and  confusion  already 
existed,  and  so  made  that  disorder  and  confusion 
at  once  absolute  and  complete. 

"We  unite  heartily  with  the  Christian  world  in 
extendins:  to  the  Moravian  brethren  of  Herruhut 
and  their  zealous  descendants  the  high  praise  to 
which  they  are  entitled  for  the  sincerity  of  their 
devotion,  the  boldness  of  their  missionary  enter- 
prise, and  their  happy  illustration  of  the  gentle 
graces  of  the  gospel.  But  in  perusing  the  re- 
cords of  history  we  cannot  omit  to  notice  the  fact 
that,  at  the  period  of  which  we  are  now  speaking. 
Count  Zinzendorf,  the  patriarch  of  the  Moravians, 
had  placed  and  sought  to  maintain  himself  in  a 
position  grossly  offensive  to  Muhlenberg  and  to 
the  eminent  and  holy  men  who  had  sent  him 
hither.  The  count  had  come  to  Philadelphia ;  he 
had  assumed  the  name  of  Von  Thurnstein.  He 
presented  himself  as  a  Lutheran  preacher  and 
inspector  of  all  the  Lutheran  churches  in  Penn- 
sylvania. He  took  possession  of  the  books  of 
the  Lutheran  congregation  in  Philadelphia.  He 
insisted  upon  Muhlenberg's  bowing  to  his  author- 
ity. He  sought  to  prevent  his  preaching  in  the 
Swedish  Church  at  Wicaco,  and  endeavored,  in 
various  ways,  to  excite  such  suspicions  and  pre- 


LUTHERAN   CHURCH    IN   AMERICA.  99 

judices  against  him  as  might  entirely  prevent  his 
exercising  the  pastoral  office  in  the  Lutheran 
Church.* 

Upon  learning  the  state  of  affairs  both  in  the 
Church  and  around  it,  the  brethren  in  Europe 
were  perfectly  astonished,  as  they  well  might 
have  been,  at  the  resolution  and  the  courage 
with  which  Muhlenberg,  alone,  unattended,  with-  ^ 
out  a  colleague,  without  a  friend,  faced  and  bore 
down  upon  all  these  multiplied  obstacles.  In 
his  previous  history  he  had  worn  dignities  with 
grace ;  he  had  occupied  high  and  responsible  offi- 
cial positions  with  ability;  and  now,  by  virtue  of 
that  apostolic  talent  that  enabled  him  to  be  made 
all  things  to  all  men  as  his  duty  dictated,  he 
minded  not  high  things,  but  accommodated  him- 
self to  men  of  low  estate.  His  papers,  his  cre- 
dentials, were  so  clear  and  satisfiictory, — besides, 
the}'  were  so  highly  corroborated  b}'  his  own  per- 
sonal appearance,  his  address,  his  talent  and  spirit, 
— that  it  was  not  long  before  all  opposers  and 
gainsayers  were  dismissed  or  took  their  departure; 
and  the  Lutherans,  revived  and  reassured,  began 
to  unite  and  cluster  around  him. 

At  that  time  there  were  seven  churches  in 
Philadelphia, — the  Episcopalians,  the  Presby- 
terians, the  Roman  Catholics,  the  Baptists,  the 
Quakers,  the  Moravians,  and  the  Swedes,  having 
each  one  place  of  worship.     The  religious  exer- 

*  Ilalle  Reports,  p.  14. 


100  EARLY    HISTORY    OF    THE 

cises  of  the  German  Lutherans  had  been  held  in 
a  private  dwelling.  Upon  the  arrival  of  Muhlen- 
berg, however,  they  obtained  from  the  Swedish 
brethren,  and  continued  to  enjoy  for  a  short  time, 
the  use  of  the  church  at  "VYicaco. 

'No  sooner  had  Muhlenberg  entered  upon  his 
labors,  than  he  began  to  till  and  cultivate  every 
portion  of  the  extensive  field  to  which  he  had 
been  called.  Philadelphia,  Providence  or  the 
Trappe,  New  Hanover  or  the  Swamp, — the  latter 
two  places  about  thirty-five  or  forty  miles  north- 
west of  the  former, — were  the  principal  scenes  of 
his  first  solitary  operations.  About  seven  miles 
north  of  Philadelphia  was  Germantown.  Here, 
too,  the  Lutherans  had  organized  a  congregation, 
which,  in  accordance  with  their  earnest  entreaties, 
after  a  few  w^eeks,  he  also  added  to  his  bishopric. 
Early  in  the  year  1743,  he  began  to  bear  the  heat 
and  burden  of  the  day  in  these  localities,  so^ 
dividine:  his  time  that  he  mi^ht  devote  one  week 
to  each  congregation,  excepting  the  one  in  Ger- 
mantown, which  he  treated  as  an  appendage  of 
the  church  in  Philadelphia.  He  kept  school  all 
'^'  the  week,  and  he  preached  the  gospel  every  Lord's 
day.  [  In  his  three  schools,  however,  he  collected 
not  the  little  children,  but  the  young  people  from 
eighteen  to  twenty  years  of  age  and  upwards, — 
sometimes  parents  even,  with  their  adult  sons  and 
daughters.  He  began  with  the  principles  of  the 
doctrine  of  Christ ;  he  accommodated  his  instruc- 
tions to  their  several  capacities  ;  he  exhorted  them 


J 


LUTHERAN    CHURCH    IN    AMERICA.  101 

with  many  words  ;  he  was  gentle  among  them  as 
a  nurse  cherisheth  her  children  ;  he  travailed  until 
Christ  was  formed  within  them  ;  and,  as  the  result        (2^t[ 
of  his  labors,  the  churches  were  found  to  rejoice 
in  seasons  of  refreshing  from  the  presence  of  the; 
Lord. 

During  the  course  of  the  spring  and  summer 
of  1743,  he  was  engaged  in  gathering  in  the  first- 
fruits  of  his  labors ;  and  whoever  reads  the  simple 
and  touching  accounts  he  has  himself  furnished 
of  this,  his  first  spiritual  harvest,  will  see  that  he 
who  sows  in  tears  may  reap  in  joj^ 

On  Whitsunday,  1743,  he  administered  the  '{ 
sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Supper  in  I^ew  Hanover.  / 
Here  he  had  previously  confirmed  twenty-six 
catechumens.  In  this  number  there  was  a  young 
woman  of  twent3'-two  years  of  age,  who,  in  her 
seventh  year,  had  been  put  out  to  service  by  her 
widowed  mother.  Having  lived  for  fifteen  years 
in  an  English  family,  without  spiritual  care,  she 
had  forgotten  many  of  the  lessons  and  utterly  lost 
the  language  of  her  youth.  The  good  pastor  led 
her  to  the  knowledge  of  Christ  through  the  me- 
dium of  our  English  speech ;  and  when  this  Ger- 
man congregation  heard  her  publicly  testify  her 
faith  in  Christ  in  the  language  to  which  she  had 
been  used,  they  listened  with  profound  interest, 
and  were  affected  even  to  tears.  On  this  occasion 
of  the  communion,  the  crowd  was  so  great  that  the 
people  trod  one  upon  another.  In  Providence 
Bimilar  scenes  transpired  on  Whit-Monday.    They 

9* 


102  EARLY   HISTORY    OF    THE 

were  repeated  in  other  portions  of  his  charge 
during  the  year.  Late  in  the  fall,  he  baptized,  in 
the  chnrch  at  Germantown,  a  mother  with  her  five 
adult  children.  They  were  so  deeply  affected  that 
he  "might  almost  have  baptized  them  with  their 
tears."  He  continued  to  watch  for  their  souls, 
and  "  their  growth  in  grace  and  their  promise  of 
frnitfuhiess  was  most  refreshing  to  behold." 

So  it  was.  As  we  pass  by  the  field  where 
springeth  up  first  the  blade,  then  the  ear,  and, 
after  that,  the  full  corn  in  the  ear,  we  are  satis- 
fied, though  we  may  not  have  seen  it,  that  upon 
that  field  the  hands  and  the  feet  of  industry  have 
toiled  for  weary  hours,  and  hope  and  patience 
watched  and  waited — perhaps  prayed  —  for  the 
blessing  from  above.  And  as  we  look  through 
this  first  ingathering  of  the  few  churches  in  Penn- 
sylvania, whilst  we  behold  the  laborious  faithful- 
ness of  the  pastor,  we  may  also  discern  the 
anxious,  hopeful,  prayerful  spirit  of  the  people. 
In  Philadelphia,  in  Germantown,  in  Providence, 
and  in  'New  Hanover,  had  the  prayer  long  gone 
up  from  many  a  heart,  from  many  a  house  that 
mourned  for  the  desolations  of  Zion: — "Turn  us 
again,  0  Lord  God  of  hosts;  cause  thy  face  to 
shine,  and  we  shall  be  saved." 

The  effect  of  this  little  reviving  was  soon  ap- 
parent in  the  external  activity  of  the  churches. 
They  began  to  encourage  each  other  in  the  erec- 
tion of  houses  for  public  worship.  In  prayer  they 
spread  the  matter  before  the  Lord.     They  entered 


LUTHERAN    CHURCH    IN    AMERICA.  103 

upon  it  in  his  name.  In  the  depth  of  their  po- 
verty their  liberality  abounded.  They  sought  and 
obtained  aid  from  the  fatherland;  they  enjoyed  the 
flivor  of  the  Lord,  and  the  work  went  bravely  on. 
The  congregation  in  Philadelphia,  which  was  al- 
ready large,  having  purchased  an  admirable  lot  of 
ground  in  the  centre  of  the  city,  were  cheered  as 
they  witnessed  the  laying  of  the  corner-stone  of 
St.  Michael's  Church,  with  appropriate  ceremonies, 
April  7, 1743.  On  the  20th  of  October  following, 
though  as  yet  not  completely  finished,  it  was  so- 
lemnly consecrated  to  the  worship  of  God.  The 
corner-stone  of  the  church  in  Providence  was  laid 
May  2d  of  the  same  year.  The  attentive  crowds 
that  witnessed  the  ceremony  were  composed  of 
English  as  well  as  Germans ;  and  the  pastor, 
having  preached  first  in  his  native  tongue,  took 
advantage  of  the  occasion  to  proclaim  the  wdrd 
also  to  his  English  friends  in  their  own  language. 
On  the  12th  of  the  following  September  this 
church  was  so  far  finished  that  the  congregation 
were  able  to  leave  the  barn  in  which  they  had 
previously  met,  and,  for  the  first  time,  worship 
God  witliin  the  walls  they  had  reared  for  his 
praise.  Meanwhile,  the  congregation  at  ^ew 
Hanover,  having  previously  had  a  church,  were 
engaged  in  the  erection  of  a  school-house  for  the 
benefit  of  their  children. 

These  undertakings  not  only  increased  the  cares 
of  the  pastor ;  they  also  convinced  both  him  and 
the  people  that  the  next  olTJect  claiming  their  at- 


A, 


104  EArxLY    HISTORY    OF    THE 

tention  was  an  increase  of  laborers  in  tlie  harvest. 
yjf  Their  cry  went  out  to  Germany, — "  Come  over  and 
/  help  us!"  It  was  an  earnest  cry;  it  was  meant  to 
be  heard.  Every  ship  that  arrived  at  Philadelphia 
was  hailed,  first  of  all,  with  the  inquiry,  "Are 
there  any  Lutheran  ministers  on  board?"  At  last 
they  came. 

The  Rev.  Peter  Brunnholtz,  a  native  of  Schles- 
wig,  having  first  been  proven  and  found  faithful 
in  the  care  of  souls,  was  ordained  April  12,  1744, 
and  forthwith  took  his  departure,  duly  commis- 
sioned as  pastor  of  the  churches  in  and  around 
Philadelphia.  In  company  with  him  came  also 
the  Messrs.  Schaum  and  Kurtz,  students  of  theo- 
logy, who  had  been  well  reported  of  for  good 
works,  and  whose  object  was,  first  of  all,  to  act  as 
catechists  or  assistants  of  the  two  pastors  in  their 
new  home. 

Having  been  subjected  to  many  delays  in 
England,  and  tossed  by  contrary  winds  upon 
their  voyage,  these  three  brethren  at  length 
reached  Philadelphia,  January  26,  1745.  They 
landed;  and,  as  they  were  approaching  the  city, 
they  met  a  German  coming  out  of  the  forest,  who, 
as  he  saw  that  they  had  arrived  in  the  vessel  lying 
in  the  harbor,  first  accosted  them  with  the  usual 
question: — "Are  there  any  Lutheran  ministers  on 
board?"  Upon  learning  their  character  he  leaped 
for  joy:  he  took  them  to  the  house  of  a  German 
merchant,  known  for  his  hospitality.  The  elders, 
the  deacons,  many  members  of  the  Church,  soon 


LUTHERAN    CHURCH   IN   AMERICA.  105 

gathered  around  tliem  ;  an  express  was  sent  off  to 
Providence  to  convey  the  intelligence  to  Muhlen- 
berg ;  and  upon  that  day  they  all  united  to  thank 
God  and  to  take  courage.  There  was  very  little 
delay  about  the  commencement  of  their  opera- 
tions. Before  two  weeks,  Brunnholtz  had  visited 
all  the  churches  and  been  acknowledged  as  co- 
pastor  with  Muhlenberg.  Schaum  opened  his 
school  in  Philadelphia,  and  Kurtz  did  the  same  at 
New  Hanover. 

Immediately  after  this  increase  of  clerical  force, 
the  demand  for  pastoral  services  became  louder 
and  more  extensive  than  ever.  The  four  asso- 
ciated churches,  'tis  true,  were  satisfied,  as  they  had 
reason  to  be.  They  devoutly  returned  thanks  to 
God,  and  sent  back  their  grateful  acknowledg- 
ments to  the  fathers  and  brethren  in  Europe,  for 
the  Christian  kindness  that  had  been  experienced 
at  their  hands.  They  would  ask  nothing  farther 
for  the  present  than  the  sympathy  of  prayer,  the 
encouragement  of  friendly  counsel,  and  some 
timely  aid  in  liquidating  the  debts  incurred  hj  the 
building  of  the  churches,  for  which  Muhlenberg 
and  a  few  of  the  elders,  poor  as  they  were,  were 
themselves  personally  responsible. 

Ere  long,  however,  news  reached  them  from  all 
the  regions  round  about,  that  their  brethren  in  the 
faith,  less  favored  than  they,  were  waking  up  to 
the  things  concerning  the  kingdom  of  God,  were 
famishing  for  the  word  of  life,  were  organizing 
congregations,   were    longing   for    some   faithful 


106  EARLY   HISTORY   OF   THE 

pastor  to  instruct  them  in  the  truth  and  to  admi- 
nister the  sacraments  amongst  them.  From  Oley, 
and  Schwartzwald,  and  Tulpehocken,  above  the 
Trappe;  from  Chester,  below  Philadelphia;  from 
Cohanzy,  in  ]^ew  Jersey,  where  a  church  already 
existed;  even  from  the  distant  settlement  in  Scho- 
harie, the  most  urgent  entreaties  for  spiritual  atten- 
tions were  addressed  to  them.  And  what  were 
they  among  so  many?  Yet  they  were  the  men 
for  the  emergency.  The  two  assistants,  Schaum 
and  Kurtz,  whether  engaged  in  the  operations  of 
their  schools,  or  preparing  the  young  people  for 
confirmation,  or  occupying  the  pulpit  upon  the 
Lord's  day,  showed  themselves  apt  to  teach,  for 
their  hearts  were  in  the  work.  They  were  pre- 
pared for  any  service  the  pastors  might  demand 
of  them,  as  good  soldiers  of  Jesus  Christ, — to  go  to 
any  point,  at  any  time,  wdiither  the  interests  of 
souls  required.  Had  they  done  less,  they  might 
have  blushed  in  view  of  the  laborious  and  unwea- 
ried zeal  of  Muhlenberg  and  Brunnholtz.  When 
the  pastors  were  accustomed  to  recapitulate  their 
sermons  with  their  congregations,  in  the  form  of 
question  and  answer, — wdien  they  would  go  about 
from  house  to  house,  that  they  might  apply  the 
truth  to  the  hearts  of  individuals, — when  they 
sought,  wath  affectionate  concern,  to  ascertain  the 
spiritual  condition  of  every  soul  committed  to  their 
charge, — when  they  might  be  met,  any  day,  labor- 
ing with  equal  earnestness  near  at  hand  or  afar 
off  among  the  destitute  families  of  the  wilderness, 


LUTHERAN    CHURCH   IN   AMERICA.  107 

— it  would  not  have  become  the  two  assistants  to 
hang  far  behind  in  pastoral  duty. 

The  demand  for  pastors,  however,  was  sent  in 
from  more  remote  congregations,  with  such  touch- 
ing importunity,  that  both  Schaum  and  Kurtz 
were  promoted,  at  an  early  day,  to  posts  of  much 
greater  prominence  and  responsibility.  The  former 
went  to  York  in  Pennsylvania,  the  latter  to  Tul-  ^ 
pehocken;  and  there  they  labored  faithfully  and 
long.  The  Lord  was  not  unmindful  of  their  work 
and  labor  of  love.  Their  churches  were  increased 
in  numbers,  and  edified  greatl}^ ;  and  the  memory 
of  their  self-denial,  their  heroism  and  devotion, 
lingers  about  these  scenes  of  their  early  toils  even 
to  the  present  day. 

The  name  of  York,  Pennsylvania,  occurring  at 
this  period  of  our  history,  is  an  evidence  that  it 
was  one  of  the  characteristics  of  the  Germans,  in 
-that  early  day,  to  spread  themselves  over  all  the 
land.  The  pastors  from  Philadelphia,  who,  from 
time  to  time,  undertook  a  visitation  of  the  Church, 
having  reached  their  brethren  at  York,  would 
press  on  as  far  as  Maryland,  and  urge  their  way 
even  into  Virginia.  Everywhere  they  met  their 
fellow-countrymen,  the  children  of  the  Augsburg 
Confession.  Whither  could  they  have  gone  along 
the  seaboard  without  being  reminded  of  their  faith 
and  their  fatherland?  Beginning  with  Maine, 
and  continuing  on  to  Georgia,  the  frequent  and 
flourishing  settlements  of  their  brethren  in  the 
fixith  might  easily  have  impressed  them  with  the 


108  EARLY   IIISTOllY    OF   THE 

idea  that  tlie  German  nation  and  the  Lutheran 
Church  were  ubiquitous.  The  comparative  nu- 
merical strength  of  the  Church,  the  purity  of  its 
spirit,  and  the  fideUt}^  of  its  discipline,  held  out  a 
most  promising  future.  It  may  not  he  useless  for 
us  to  consider  these  facts,  and,  at  the  same  time, 
to  weigh  the  circumstances  by  which  the  liopes 
that  they  justified  have,  to  so  great  an  extent, 
been  disappointed. 

The  appeals  of  the  pastors  and  congregations  to 
the  brethren  in  Germany  were  often  renewed  and 
insisted  upon.  Their  tardy  responses  were  not 
occasioned  by  any  lack  of  interest  in  the  welfare 
of  the  Church  in  America,  but  by  the  scrupulous 
caution  wdth  which  the}^  sought  to  commission  and 
send  out  such  pastors  only  as,  being  men  of  God, 
might  make  full  proof  of  their  office.  In  the  year 
1746,  Dr.  Francke,  of  Halle,  communicated  a  call 
from  the  churches  in  Pennsylvania  to  the  Rev. 
John  F.  Ilandschuh,  who  for  several  years  had 
been  actively  engaged  in  the  labors  of  a  successful 
ministry.  The  learning,  the  diligence  and  fixith- 
fulness  of  Handschuh  eminently  qualified  him  for 
the  post,  whilst  his  views  of  duty  were  such  as  to 
induce  him  to  throw  himself  body  and  soul  into 
the  work.  The  Lord,  he  said,  had  already  pre- 
pared him  for  such  an  undertaking, — had  lifted 
him  up  above  many  of  the  restraints  of  earth ;  and, 
since  the  great  change  of  his  heart,  he  wished  only 
to  yield  himself  up  entirely  to  the  disposal  of  his 
Lord  and  Master,  to  whom  he  owed  so  much.     He 


LUTHERAN    CHURCH    IN   AMERICA.  109 

would  go  whithersoever  the  Lord  might  direct 
him,  and  offer  up  all  that  he  had,  that  he  might 
glorify  the  name  of  the  Redeemer  amongst  men. 
He  felt,  for  a  season,  a  certain  misgiving,  occa- 
sioned by  a  sense  of  his  bodily  weakness;  but  he 
betook  himself  to  prayer,  and  was  then  able  to 
quiet  his  heart,  as  he  inquired  of  it,  "  What  objec- 
tion wilt  thou  urge  if  the  Lord  himse]f  will  have 
thee  there  ?"  It  seemed  to  him  that  the  Lord  had 
often  taken  the  weak  to  confound  the  mighty ;  and 
so  he  felt  satisfied,  that  if  God  wished  to  have  him 
in  America,  to  labor  in  his  kingdom  there,  he 
would  surely  give  him,  weak  though  he  was,  both 
grace  and  strength  enough  for  every  time  of  need. 
Vigorous  efforts  were  made  to  seek  out  two  as- 
sistants, who,  associated  with  him  as  Kurtz  and 
Schaum  had  been  associated  with  Brunnholtz, 
might  make  his  arrival  even  more  joyful  to  the 
churches  in  Pennsylvania.  These  efforts,  however, 
failed,  and  it  was  resolved  that  Handschuh  should 
depart  alone.  Li  the  month  of  June,  1747,  he 
left  his  native  land,  and,  directing  his  course 
through  England,  he  arrived  in  London  July  4. 
Here  he  tarried  about  six  weeks.  Li  the  following 
September  he  embafked  at  Gravesend,  and  on 
April  5, 1748,  he  arrived  in  Philadelphia.  On  the 
26th  of  May  following,  he  preached  his  introductory 
sermon  as  pastor  of  the  church  in  the  city  of  Lan- 
caster. This  city  contained  at  that  time  about 
four  hundred  houses.  The  Germans  formed  by 
far  the  larger  part  of  the  population,  and,  by  a 

]0 


110  EARLY   HISTORY    OF   THE 

commendable  spirit  of  enterprise,  rendered  it  a 
prominent  centre  of  attraction.  The  good  living 
for  which  it  had  already  become  famous  secured 
the  addition  of  many  to  the  number  of  its  perma- 
nent inhabitants,  and  Handschuh  foresaw  that  it 
would  soon  become  and  continue  to  be  a  great 
and  populous  city. 

There  are  peculiarities  enough  in  the  early  his- 
tory and  continued  progress  of  the  church  in  Lan- 
caster, to  entitle  it  to  some  specific  notice.  It  was 
large.  It  was  in  all  respects  German.  Yet  it  con- 
tained a  small,  quite  a  small,  proportion  of  Swedes, 
who,  as  Lutherans,  of  course  stood  in  intimate 
fellowship  with  their  German  brethren.  It  w^as 
owing  to  this  circumstance,  that  in  their  desire  to 
obtain  a  pastor  for  their  congregation,  some  time 
previous  to  the  year  1745,  they  addressed  them- 
selves to  the  Archbishop  of  Sweden.  In  Sweden, 
German  students  of  theology  were  to  be  met  with, 
and  the  expectation  was  that  such  a  man,  in  addi- 
tion to  his  regular  ministry  in  the  German  lan- 
guage, would  be  the  more  able  to  labor  for  the 
edifying  of  the  Swedes  also,  who,  from  time  to 
time,  might  come  and  settle  amongst  them.  In 
their  appeal  to  the  archbi^op  they  specify  that 
they  wish  a  teacher  of  the  Holy  Scriptures,  who 
shall  be  true  to  the  Augsburg  Confession  and  the 
other  Symbolical  Books  of  the  Church. 

The  person  by  whose  mission  from  Sweden  this 
appeal  was  answered  was  a  man  by  the  name  of 
ISTyberg.     Upon  his  arrival  in  Lancaster,  he  was 


LUTHERAN   CnURCH   IX   AMERICA.  Ill 

received  by  the  congregation  as  an  angel  from 
heaven,  and  duly  acknowledged  as  pastor  of  the 
church,  with  the  reiterated  understanding  that  he 
should  be  faithful  to  tlie  pure  Lutheran  doctrine. 
His  prospects  were  most  encouraging :  he  possessed 
the  unbounded  confidence  of  the  people,  and  the 
promise  of  a  glorious  harvest  seemed  to  rise  fair 
and  bright  before  him.  But  he  proved  himself  to 
be  unworthy  of  it  all.  The  period  of  his  connec- 
tion with  the  church  was  one  of  great  uneasiness 
and  turmoil  to  the  brethren,  of  scandal  in  the 
eyes  of  the  world,  whilst  it  resulted  at  last  in  his 
ow^n  complete  confusion. 

He  was  a  man  of  keen  susceptibility,  of  strong 
passions;  and,  had  his  training  been  thorough,  his 
understanding  enlightened  and  solid  in  propor- 
tion, he  might  have  become  long  and  eminently 
useful.  But  his  zeal  was  without  knowledge,  his 
will  was  obstinacy,  and  his  antecedents  were  alto- 
gether such  as  to  unfit  him  for  the  responsible  post 
of  a  Lutheran  pastor. 

He  had  commenced  his  preparation  for  the 
active  duties  of  life  with  the  study  of  civil- 
engineering.  Subsequently,  however,  he  turned 
his  attention  to  theology.  The  consequence  of 
this  late  beginning  of  his  theological  course  w^as 
a  superficial,  a  very  defective  training,  the  un- 
happy influence  of  wdiich  might  be  seen  at  almost 
any  point  of  his  career.  After  the  expiration  of 
his  academical  course,  he  acted  as  private  tutor  in 
tlio  family  of  a  Swedish  nobleman;   and  it  was 


112  EARLY   HISTORY   OF   THE 

through  the  influence  of  this  man  that  he  ob- 
tained, from  the  Consistory  in  Sweden,  the  appoint- 
ment called  for  by  the  appeal  of  the  church  in 
Lancaster. 

There  is  abundant  evidence  that  even  before  he 
left  Sweden,  though  professing  to  be  a  Lutheran, 
he  had  given  his  heart  to  the  Moravians;  and 
that,  though  he  formally  bound  himself,  by  the 
Symbolical  Books,  only  to  the  w^ord  of  God, 
he  devoted  himself  in  spirit  to  the  plans  of 
Zinzendorf. 

The  Lutherans  of  Lancaster — and,  indeed,  the 
Lutherans  of  any  place  —  could  have  no  reason- 
able objection  against  the  labors  of  Moravian 
clergymen  amongst  their  own  people  or  amongst 
the  people  of  the  world  at  large.  On  the  other 
hand,  they  have  often  admired  their  zeal,  and 
rejoiced  with  great  joy  in  their  remarkable  suc- 
cess. But  when  the  pastor  at  Lancaster  began  to 
seek  to  pervert  the  church  from  its  Lutheran  fel- 
lowship,— to  deride  and  misrepresent  the  evan- 
gelical Lutheran  doctrine, — to  decry  Muhlenberg 
himself,  and  the  faithful  officers  of  the  congrega- 
tion even,  as  most  dangerous  men, — it  would  have 
been  strange  indeed  if  the  Lutherans,  both  in 
Lancaster  and  elsewhere,  had  not  met  such  move- 
ments with  an  earnest  and  a  firm  protest.  Such 
a  protest  w^as  made.  It  excited  ^N'yberg  to  take  up 
a  position  more  hostile  to  the  Lutheran  interest, 
more  openly  favorable  to  the  Moravians.  His 
epistolary  correspondence  with  them  became  frank 


LUTHERAN    CIIURCH    IN   AMERICA.  113 

and  frequent;  lie  appeared  as  an  active  partici- 
pator ill  I  he  meetings  of  their  Conferences;  he 
was  the  chief  agent  in  gathering  a  Moravian  Con- 
ference in  Lancaster  in  1745,  and  in  making 
arrangements  for  its  accommodation.  And  so,  by 
a  course  which  would  have  been  altogether  praise- 
worthy in  an  honest  Moravian  pastor,  but  which, 
under  the  circumstances,  was  especially  unbe- 
coming a  Lutheran,  he  forfeited  the  confidence 
of  his  congregation,  and  plunged  them  into  a  long 
and  trying  series  of  troubles. 

During  the  progress  of  the  conflict,  the  church 
was  violently  closed  and  guarded  ;  it  was  opened 
by  force ;  an  appeal  was  had  to  the  governor,  who 
ordered  it  closed  a  second  time;  counter-repre- 
sentations were  made,  and  the  governor  opened 
the  doors.  The  church  was  then  violently  closed 
again,  and  a  suit  was  entered  before  the  civil  tri- 
bunal. It  terminated  in  favor  of  the  Lutherans 
and  in  the  defeat  of  the  friends  of  Xyberg.  The 
confusion  still  continued.  Conrad  Weiser,  the 
father-in-law  of  Muhlenberg, —  a  man  of  high 
standing  and  of  extensive  influence, —  exhausted 
his  skill  in  attempts  to  eftect  a  compromise ;  and 
Muhlenberg,  when  appealed  to,  in  the  summer  of 
1746,  to  allay  the  disturbance  by  testifying  what 
the  Lutheran  doctrine  was,  went  to  Lancaster 
with  a  heavy  heart  and  with  very  feeble  hopes  of 
success.  After  this,  however,  the  storm  ceased 
to  rage.     Nyberg  and  his  adherents  passed  along 

10- 


114  EARLY   HISTORY    OF    THE 

to  the  building  of  a  new  clinrch,  upon  Moravian 
principles,  and  the  Lutherans  had  peace.* 

Of  course,  the  sad  eflects  of  this  conflict  con- 
tinued to  be  seen  long  after  its  violence  had 
passed  away.  For  many  months  they  were  felt 
and  lamented.  Gradually,  however,  the  congre- 
gation revived.  An  occasional  visit  from  the  pas- 
tors in  Philadelphia,  whether  German  or  Swedish, 
began  to  restore  the  church  to  a  consciousness  of 
its  duty  and  its  strength.  Then  the  more  regular 
labors  of  Kurtz,  from  Tulpehocken,  one  Sunday  in 
every  month,  quickened  it  still  more,  until,  with 
the  arrival  of  Handschuh,  in  1748,  we  discern 
rising  upon  it  the  dawn  of  its  better  days.  Hand- 
schuh entered  upon  his  duties  there  with  his  cha- 
racteristic faith  and  prayerfulness.  His  connec- 
tion with  the  church  in  Lancaster,  however,  was 
from  the  first  regarded  only  as  temporaiy ;  and, 
after  the  indefatigable  and  successful  labors  of 
three  years,  he  withdrew  from  Lancaster  and 
took  charge  of  the  church  in  Germantown. 

*  Halle  Reports,  p.  69,  et  seq. 


LUTHERAN   CHURCH    IN    AMERICA.  115 


CHAPTER  VI. 

STATE    OF   THE    GERMAN    CHURCHES. 

About  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century, 
the  Eev.  Mr.  Schlatter  occupied  a  most  prominent 
position  and  exerted  a  most  salutary  influence 
amongst  the  German  Reformed  of  America.  His 
intelligent  zeal  secured  for  them  much  material 
aid  both  in  Holland  and  in  England,  and  the  suc- 
cess of  his  efforts  seems  to  have  been  considerably 
promoted  by  the  formidable  array  of  his  statistics. 
He  represented  the  German  Reformed  in  Penn- ' 
sylvania  as  amounting  to  thirty  thousand,  consti- 
tuting forty-six  congregations  and  forming  sixteen 
pastoral  districts.  His  appeals  not  only  drew  forth 
streams  of  benevolence  from  Holland,  from  Ger- 
many, and  from  Switzerland,  but  even  instigated 
the  nobility  and  royal  family  of  Great  Britain  to 
emulate  the  Christians  of  the  continent  in  be- 
friending the  Germans  of  America.  In  England, 
twenty  thousand  pounds  sterling  were  placed  in 
the  hands  of  the  trustees  of  the  "Society  for  Pro- 
pagating the  Knowledge  of  God  among  the  Ger- 
mans," and  the  interest  of  it  was  employed  in 
founding  and  sustaining  schools  under  the  inspec- 
tion of  Mr.  Schlatter.  The  Lutherans,  having  no 
such  munificent  patronage,  found  their  only  com- 


116  EARLY    HISTORY   OF   THE 

fort  in  the  reflection  that  they  needed  it  twice  as 
much.  It  was  a  moderate  estimate,  allowed  by 
Schlatter  himself,  that  the  Lutherans  were  twice 
as  numerous  as  the  Keformed ;  and  so,  about  the 
year  1750,  we  find  sixty  thousand  Lutherans  in  the 
province  of  Pennsylvania.  This  number  repre- 
sents of  course  the  w^hole  population  of  the  Lu- 
theran Church,  and  not  simply  its  membership.  It 
was  the  amount  of  material  upon  which  able  w^ork- 
men,  had  they  been  present  in  the  proportion  in 
which  pastors  were  required,  might  have  operated 
successfully,  at  that  early  day,  in  rearing  and  beau- 
tifying the  walls  of  our  Lutheran  Zion. 

With  these  Lutherans  in  Pennsylvania,  there 
stood  in  as  close  sympathy  as  the  state  of  the 
country  would  allow^,  many  brethren  in  the  faith 
in  Kew  York,  in  ISTew  Jersey,  in  Maryland,  in  Vir- 
ginia, and  as  far  south  as  Ebenezer  in  Georgia. 
As  to  the  advantages  of  spiritual  care,  they  w^ere 
to  be  found  in  all  possible  varieties  of  condition, — 
from  the  regularly-organized  congregation,  edified 
by  the  ministrj^  of  a  faithful  pastor,  to  the  remote 
and  neglected  settlement,  over  which  the  heart 
might  sigh  as  over  lost  sheep  without  a  shep- 
herd. 

If,  however,  it  is  any  advantage  to  a  Church, 
upon  its  first  introduction  to  any  territory,  to  have 
a  wide  door  and  effectual  opened  to  it,  to  find 
ready  access  to  many  families,  to  meet  with  a  large 
portion  of  the  population  already  inclined  by  habit 
and  by  education  to  accept  its   ministry  and   to 


LUTHERAN    CnURCH   IN   AMERICA.  117 

worship  at  its  altars,  that  advantage  was  largely 
enjoyed  by  the  Lutheran  Church.  ^ 

At  this  time  there  were  in  all  the  colonies,  j 
]^ova  Scotia  excepted,  about  forty  organized  con-  ; 
gregations  and  sixteen  regular  pastors.  Twenty-  j 
three  of  these  congregations  were  in  connection 
with  the  Synod  of  Pennsylvania, — the  others  being 
too  remote  to  be  able  to  co-operate  directly  with 
it.*  The  lack  of  regular  instruction  of  faithful 
pastors  of  course  retarded  the  introduction  and 
administration  of  Christian  discipline.  Upon  the 
adoption  of  such  a  discipline  by  the  church  in 
Philadelphia,  however,  we  learn  that  it  had  been 
for  years  the  subject  of  anxious  ^ thought  and  of 
fervent  prayer  on  the  part  both  of  the  ministers 
and  the  people.!  In  the  absence  of  any  com- 
plete system,  the  pastors  were  careful  to  supply  the 
deficiency  by  a  scrupulous  application  of  Christian 
principles  upon  all  occasions  of  sacramental  com- 
munion. Their  mode  of  proceeding  is  important 
and  interesting  enough  to  justify  us  in  illustrating 
it  by  the  exhibition  of  one  or  two  examples. 

In  the  month  of  [N'ovember,  1746,  Muhlenberg 
administered  the  Lord's  Supper  to  the  congrega- 
tion at  Tulpehocken.  In  his  report  of  the  pro- 
ceeding he  remarks,  "It  is  indeed  a  serious  under- 
taking to  celebrate  the  Holy  Supper  in  a  church 
the  members  of  which  are  not  under  our  special 
care,  and  the  spiritual  condition  of  whom  we  have 


*  Hazelius's  History,  p.  77.  f  HaUe  Reports,  p.  831 


118  EARLY   HISTORY   OF   THE 

no  direct  means  to  ascertain.  Yet,  nnder  existinGr 
circumstances,  we  have  to  do  it.  So  we  examine 
the  communicants  with  great  rigor,  we  press  home 
upon  them  both  law  and  gospel,  we  preach  repent- 
ance, faith,  and  the  fruits  of  righteousness,  we 
point  out  to  them  the  benefits  that  faith  may  ex- 
pect to  find  in  the  sacraments,  and,  with  the  help 
of  God,  seek  to  keep  our  conscience  clear.  "We 
dig  about  the  old  trees ;  we  plant  and  water,  and 
pray  God  to  send  the  increase.  At  the  meeting 
preparatory  to  the  communion  in  Tulpehocken,  I 
had  a  text  on  the  subject  of  repentance,  according 
to  which  the  hearers  were  exhorted  to  examine 
their  own  selves.  After  this  I  recorded  the  names 
of  those  who  wished  to  commune.  I  then  pub- 
lished all  the  names,  and  inquired  of  the  elders 
and  deacons,  upon  their  conscience,  whether  they 
knew  any  perverse  and  wilful  ofienders  amongst 
these  communicants.  They  wept,  and  replied 
that  this  responsibility  was  too  heavy  for  them : 
they  had  enough  to  do  to  judge  their  own  hearts; 
every  one  should  answer  for  himself  I  was  satis- 
fied with  this  reply,  and  added  that  each  one  should 
the  more  faithfully  examine  himself  in  the  sight 
of  God.  I  had  been  previously  informed  that  two 
persons,  whose  names  I  recorded,  had  been  ad- 
dicted to  intemperance.  I  called  first  upon  one  of 
them,  to  state  before  the  congregation  how  it  was 
at  this  time.  Deep  agitation  prevented  a  direct 
answer  from  the  individual,  but  certain  members 
of  the  family  replied  that  a  reformation  had  been 


LUTHERAN    CHURCH    IN    AMERICA.  119 

ill  progress  for  some  considerable  time  already, 
and  that,  by  tlic  grace  of  God,  tliey  hoped  for  a 
complete  recovery.  The  other  one,  whom  I  had 
myself  seen  under  the  influence  of  strong  drink, 
was  then  called  up  and  exhorted  to  repent.  He 
replied  that  he  had  already  refrained  from  intem- 
perate drinking  for  the  space  of  six  months.  I 
then  told  him  that  such  an  ofi:ence  was  an  evi- 
dence that  his  heart  was  yet  unconverted,  and 
pointed  out  to  him  how  he  might,  through  grace, 
obtain  the  forgiveness  of  all  his  sins,  and  adop- 
tion into  the  family  of  God.  This,  however,  en- 
raged him,  and,  replying  in  offensive  terms,  he 
went  off.  I  then  exhorted  the  congregation  with 
much  warmth,  telling  them  that  they  should  by 
no  means  think  that  a  freedom  from  gross  sin  con- 
stituted a  worthy  communicant ;  because  a  heart 
truly  penitent,  and  hungering  and  thirsting  after 
righteousness,  was  here  the  one  thing  needful.  I 
taught  them,  too,  how  such  a  heart  should  be  ob- 
tained. After  this  examination,  we  confessed 
our  sins  upon  bended  knees,  implored  pardon 
through  Jesus  Christ,  and  pledged  ourselves  to 
follow  the  guidance  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  Then  I 
announced  to  them  the  assurance  of  the  divine 
forgiveness.  On  the  Lord's  day  I  preached 
upon  the  proper  use  and  the  benefits  of  the 
Holy  Supper,  and  administered  the  communion  to 
two  hundred  members.  There  was  the  best  of 
order,  profound   reverence   and   deep  feeling,  in 


120  EARLY   HISTORY   OF   THE 

all  the  coDgregation.  The  Lord  knoweth  the 
heart.  "'-^ 

In  connection  with  a  report  of  the  congrega- 
tions of  Providence  and  New  Hanover,  the  dis- 
ciplinary operations  of  the  Church  are  recorded  as 
follows : — 

"During  the  week  preceding  the  communion, 
every  one  who  wishes  to  partake  of  it  is  expected 
to  visit  the  pastor,  either  in  the  parsonage  or  in 
the  school-house.  The  pastor  then  speaks  with 
him  faithfully  and  tenderly  ahout  the  state  of  his 
heart  and  the  character  of  his  life;  he  inquires 
about  his  growth  in  grace,  and  gives  him  the  ne- 
cessary admonition,  instruction,  and  consolation 
according  to  circumstances.  By  these  personal 
conferences  the  pastor  learns  the  spiritual  condi- 
tion of  the  souls  committed  to  his  charge. 

"On  the  day  before  the  communion,  those  whose 
names  have  been  recorded  attend  the  preparatory 
exercises  in  the  church.  After  the  conclusion  of 
the  sermon,  they  all  come  forward,  and  stand 
around  the  altar;  and  if  there  be  any  amongst 
them  who  have  been  guilty  of  gross  oftences,  these 
are  then  personally  called  to  account.  The  pastor 
reminds  them  of  the  evil  they  have  done,  and 
questions  them  about  their  repentance,  their  faith, 
and  their  promise  of  reformation.  If  their  answ^ers 
have  been  satisfactory,  the  pastor  then  asks  the 
other  communicants  if  they  will  forgive  their  of- 


Ilalle  Reports,  p.  170. 


LUTHERAN   CHURCH   IN   AMERICA.  121 

fending  brethren  and  unite  with  him  in  imploring 
God's  forgiveness  for  Christ's  sake.     Often  have 
these  questions  been  asked,  and  as  often  have  the 
brethren  testified  by  tears  their  willingness  to  for- 
give the  wanderers  and  to  remember  them  in  prayer. 
Hereupon  the  pastor  addresses  a  short  exhortation 
to  all,  reminding  them  that  it  is  through  the  grace 
of  God  in  Christ  alone  that  they  can  be  delivered 
from  sin.     Then  all  kneel  together  before  God, 
and  the  pastor  prays  in  the  midst  of  them.     A  few 
more  questions  follow,  and  the  pastor  repeats  the 
promise  of  pardon  to  them  that  believe.     In  con- 
clusion, they  are  asked  if  any  one  has  yet  any 
cause  of  complaint  against  another.     If  this  hap- 
pens to  be  the  case,  they  then  retire  to  the  parson- 
age, confer  with  each  other,  and  are  reconciled."* 
This  was  administering  Christian  discipline  with 
a  strong  hand.    It  was  taking  the  oversight  of  the 
flock  in  the  spirit  of  the  divine  word ;  and  we  may 
add,  too,  in  the  spirit  of  our  own  Confession.    The 
pastors,  as  they  scrutinized  the  several  congrega- 
tions throughout  the  land,  saw  that  they  verified 
the  comparison  of  a  net  having  fishes  of  all  kinds, 
both  bad  and  good ;  or  of  a  field  in  which  wheat 
and  tares  grow^  together.     They  could  not  rashly 
fall  upon  the  field  to  gather  up  the  tares,  lest  they 
might  root  up  the  w^heat  also.     They  could  not 
allow    the    tares    to    grow   wholly    undisturbed, 
lest  the  precious  seed  might  be  choked  and  be- 


Halle  Reports,  p.  18.- 
11 


122  EARLY    HISTORY    OF    THE 

come  altogether  unfruitml.  So,  like  faitliful  labor- 
ers, they  endeavored  to  make  fall  proof  of  their 
ministry ;  and,  as  workers  together  with  God,  they 
administered  the  word  and  the  sacraments  in  his 
name,  hoping  and  believing  that  the  Lord  would 
prosper  the  work  of  their  hands. 

In  doctrine  they  aimed  to  show  uncorruptness, 
gravity,  sincerity.  In  public  and  in  private  they 
insisted  upon  it,  that  out  of  the  heart  proceedeth 
every  thing  that  deiileth  the  man,  and  that  no- 
thin  o-  would  avail  in  Christ  Jesus  but  a  new  crea- 
ture.  The  variety  of  means  they  employed  with 
a  view  of  converting  souls  and  confirming  tlie 
faith  of  the  disciples  was  everyway  worthy  of 
admiration.  By  the  simplicity  of  their  preaching 
the  pastors  accommodated  themselves  to  the  ca- 
pacity of  their  hearers.  Sometimes  they  would 
recapitulate  their  sermons  with  the  congregation 
in  the  form  of  questions  and  answers.  Some- 
times at  the  conclusion  of  the  discourse  they 
would  read  an  appropriate  hymn,  and  accompany 
it  with  suitable  remarks.  This  they  were  en- 
couraged often  to  do  by  observing  that  it  arrested 
attention,  produced  deep  impressions,  and  resulted 
in  winning  men  for  Christ.  Ko  small  portion  of 
their  time  was  occupied  in  visiting  from  house  to 
house;  and  the  object  steadily  kept  in  view  was 
to  bring  the  truth  directly  home  to  the  hearts  of 
tlie  hearers,  and  to  encourage  them  personally  to 
seek  salvation  through  repentance  towards  God 
and  faith  in  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 


LUTHERAN   CHURCH   TN   AMERICA.  123 

The  pastors  with  the  Church  were  symbolical ; 
by  no  means,  however,  in  the  odious  sense  in 
which,  alone,  some  of  the  present  age  are  willing 
to  employ  that  term.  They  w^ere  not  symbolical 
in  contradistinction  from  being  Biblical.  They 
were  eminently  Biblical, — scriptural  in  the  high- 
est sense,  but,  as  Lutherans,  symbolical ;  that  is, 
they  found  the  doctrines  of  the  Holy  Scripture — 
which  they  loved,  w^hich  had  prevailed  to  the  re- 
newing of  their  own  hearts,  and  upon  which  they 
relied  for  success  in  leading  others  to  Christ — 
aptly  expressed,  in  a  confessional  form,  in  the  un- 
altered Augsburg  Confession  and  the  other  Sym- 
bolical Books  of  the  Lutheran  Church.  Upon 
these  principles  they  laid  the  foundations  of  the 
Church  in  America;  and  their  hope  and  prayer 
was  that  their  descendants,  until  the  latest  genera- 
tion, might  continue  in  the  pure  doctrines  of  the 
Cross,  according  to  the  word  of  God  and  our 
S}Tnbolical  Books.  They  were  persuaded  that 
the  doctrines  of  the  gospel,  thus  expressed,  would 
not  train  the  Church  to  dry  orthodoxy  nor  in 
mere  formalism ;  but  must  be  mighty  through 
God  in  begetting  a  living  faith  and  thoroughly 
renewing  the  hearts  of  the  children  of  men.  They 
endeavored  to  show  that  the  Lutheran  doctrine  in 
no  respect  countenanced  a  life  without  God,  but, 
by  all  means,  insisted  upon  a  renewing  of  the 
hearts  and  lives  of  those  who  embraced  it.  They 
ventured  to  hope  that  the  doctrines  of  the  Lu- 
theran Church  would  abound  in  such  works  of 


124  EARLY   HISTORY    OF    THE 

faitli  and  fruits  of  righteousness  as  would  toncli 
and  subdue  the  hearts  even  of  the  Indians  them- 
selves. These  savages,  the}^  found,  had  been  re- 
pelled and  rendered  suspicious  by  the  inconsistent 
conduct  of  mere  nominal  Christians ;  but  they  ex- 
pected that,  by  exemplifying  the  doctrines  of  the 
Lutheran  Church,  they  would  attract  the  atten- 
tion of  the  sons  of  the  forest  to  Christianity,  and 
prepare  the  way  for  the  Lord  himself  to  appear 
and  claim  them  as  his  own.* 

In  the  times  of  which  we  are  writing,  the  Lu- 
therans do  not  appear  to  have  sought  toleration 
or  popularity  upon  the  ground  of  the  conformity 
of  their  doctrines  and  usages  to  those  of  any 
other  denomination  in  the  land.  They  were  con- 
vinced that  the  Church  was  truly  evangelical  in 
every  sense ;  and  upon  the  strength  of  this  they 
went  forward,  boldly  preaching  its  doctrines  in 
the  name  of  the  Lord,  whether  men  would  hear 
or  whether  they  would  forbear.  On  a  certain 
occasion,  Muhlenberg  was  requested  to  preach  a 
sermon  on  the  death  of  a  Lutheran  whose  body 
was  interred  in  a  Mennonist  burying-ground.  A 
very  large  mass  of  people  of  all  denominations  was 
present,  and  amongst  them  were  three  Mennonist 
preachers.  His  purpose  was  to  address  the  con- 
gregation in  the  open  air;  "but  the  three  ministers 
requested  me  to  go  into  their  large  meeting-house, 
which,  they  said,  had  ample  accommodations  for 

*  Halle  Reports,  p.  148. 


LUTHERAN    CHURCH    IN    AMERICA.  125 

all.  After  some  hesitation,  I  consented.  Upon 
passing  through  the  door,  the  oldest  of  the  minis- 
ters whispered  cautiously  in  mj  ear,  'I  hope,  at 
least,  you  will  not  he  making  use  of  any  strange 
ceremonies  here.'  To  which  I  replied,  '^No  cere- 
monies will  answ^er  my  purpose  hut  those  of  the 
Evangelical  Lutheran  Church.'  After  the  con- 
clusion of  the  services  he  excused  himself,  saying 
that  he  did  not  know  what  ceremonies  we  w^ere  in 
the  hahit  of  using.  Then  all  three  came  to  me, 
and,  with  tears  in  their  eyes,  thanked  me  because 
I  had  blown  the  trumpet  of  repentance,  as  they 
called  it,  so  loudly  in  their  meeting-house.  After 
this  I  preached  four  times  in  the  same  place. 
These  ministers  were  always  present;  and  were 
pleased  to  state,  in  a  most  friendly  way,  that  their 
hearts  were  awakened  and  blessed.  In  these 
sermons  I  avoid  all  matters  of  controversy,  and 
speak  of  repentance,  faith,  and  godliness, — sub- 
jects that  are  most  useful  for  us  all."* 

We  may,  perhaps,  be  allowed  to  take  a  similar 
illustration  from  a  period  several  3'ears  later  in 
the  times  of  Muhlenberg.  Upon  the  occasion  of 
a  protracted  visit  to  'New  York,  "  I  was  called 
upon  by  an  English  merchant,  a  Presbyterian, 
with  the  earnest  request  that  I  should  bring  my 
whole  family,  and  make  that  city  the  scene  of  my 
future  labors.  He,  with  fifteen  others,  his  breth- 
ren,  had   been   regularly   attending   my  Sunday 


*  Il.'ille  Reports,  p.  158. 
11* 


126  EAULY    HISTOKY    OF    THE 

evening  services,  he  said,  and  had  a  prayer-meet- 
ins:  for  mutual  edification  in  his  own  house.  In 
the  Lutheran  Cliurch  they  found  nourishment  for 
their  souls.  They  could  hear  in  my  sermons  that 
I  was  a  Lutheran  ;  but  they  felt  that  our  exposi- 
tion of  the  law  and  the  gospel  was  in  the  spirit  of 
the  Saviour,  and,  if  I  should  continue  to  preach 
here  in  the  English  language,  the  prospects  for 
gathering  a  large  congregation  were  most  en- 
couraging, for  there  were  many  of  the  English 
and  the  Dutch  inhabitants  whose  souls  were 
hungering  and  thirsting  after  righteousness."* 

The  Church  was  symboHcal, — in  doctrine  show- 
ing uiicorruptness,  gravity,  sincerity.  Its  symbol- 
ism w^as  strict;  and  it  is  refreshing  to  see  that 
symbolism  may  be  taken  also  in  a  noble,  glorious 
sense, — that  it  maybe  most  deeply  and  thoroughly 
evangelical.  What  examples  of  piety  did  it  call 
forth  and  nourish  amongst  the  young !  To  what 
devotion  and  fervor  of  spirit  in  the  service  of  the 
Lord  did  it  encourage  and  stimulate  the  old ! 

Abundantly  as  the  memoirs  of  pious  youth 
issue  from  the  press  at  the  present  day,  our  in- 
terest and  our  gratification  would  not  falter  upon 
turning  to  peruse  the  extended  records  furnished 
by  the  pen  of  Muhlenberg.  He  knew  a  boy  in 
Providence, — a  lovely  child, — WTiting  of  w^hom  as 
a  boy  of  twelve  years  of  age,  he  says,  "  The  grace 
of  holy  baptism  may  easily  be  seen  in  the  charac- 

*  Halle  Reports,  p.  503. 


LUTHERAN    CHURCH    IN    AMERICA.  127 

ter  of  this  child.  His  memory  is  richly  stored 
with  proof-passages  of  Scripture  and  with  edifying 
hymns.  He  is  perfectly  familiar  with  the  five 
principal  parts  of  the  catechism,  and  is  often  most 
happy  in  his  applications  of  divine  truth  to  pecu- 
liar circumstances.  IN^ot  long  ago,  as  his  mother 
was  walking  with  him  in  the  fields,  she  spoke  of 
the  grain,  which  appeared  to  he  very  thin,  and 
expressed  her  fears  that  the  harvest  might  utterly 
fail.  He  replied,  'Dear  mother,  let  not  this 
trouhle  you.  "  Behold  the  fowls  of  the  air :  for 
they  sow  not,  neither  do  they  reap,  nor  gather 
into  barns ;  3'et  3'our  heavenl}^  Father  feedeth 
them.  Are  ye  not  much  better  than  they?"  Re- 
member, too,  how  the  Lord  Jesus  fed  the  thou- 
sands who  were  with  him  in  the  wilderness.'  So, 
in  his  ordinary  conversation,  he  shows  remarkable 
readiness  in  the  perception  and  application  of  re- 
ligious truth." 

In  a  word,  so  many  were  the  cases  of  youthful 
piety  attracting  his  attention,  that  Muhlenberg 
hardly  hesitates  to  speak  of  it  as  one  of  the  pecu- 
liar characteristics  of  the  land,  that  the  children 
of  believiug  parents  so  often  show,  and  at  such 
an  early  age,  an  enlarged  personal  experience  of 
divine  grace.* 

These  features  of  Christian  character  were  often 
more  fully  developed  in  persons  of  maturer  years. 
Upon  the  occasions  of  public  worship,  the  mcm- 

*  Halle  Report^,  p.  1G4. 


128  EARLY    IIISTUllY    OF    THE 

bers  of  the  Cliurcb  did  not  neglect  the  assembhng 
of  themselves  together.  They  came  from  far  and 
near,  in  the  snmmer's  heat,  in  the  winter's  cold. 
They  received  the  word  with  deep  attention,  many 
of  them  even  with  tears.  Thongh  the  pastors 
saw  that  some  of  the  seed  fell  upon  the  wayside, 
or  among  thorns,  or  upon  stony  ground,  yet  they 
discovered  that  much  of  it  fell  upon  good  ground 
and  was  bringing  forth  fruit  unto  perfection.  In 
their  intercourse  with  families,  with  widows  and 
orphans  in  their  affliction,  with  the  sick  and  the 
dying,  they  were  often  surprised  to  learn  to  Avhat 
a  degree  persons  of  retiring  habits  and  of  low 
estate  had  profited  by  the  simple  preaching  of  the 
word.* 

This-  was  all  the  more  wonderful  because  of  the 
many  circumstances  that  seem  to  have  set  them- 
selves in  array  against  the  interests  of  the  Church. 
There  were  fiilse  brethren  who  cruelly  abused  the 
confidence  that  had  been  extended  to  them,  oppo- 
sing sects  that  were  not  ashamed  for  their  own 
advantage  to  misrepresent  the  Church  and  her  mi- 
nistry; there  were  infidels  who  spake  loftily,  and 
scoffers  who  set  their  mouths  ao-ainst  the  heavens. 
Thus  exposed  on  the  right  hand  and  on  the  left, 
tried  within  and  without,  the  long  records  she  has 
left  of  the  deep  personal  experience  of  her  chil- 
dren are  enough  to  commend  to  the  admiration 
of  future  ages  the  early  history  of  the  Lutheran 

*  Ilallc  Reports,  p.  185. 


LUTHERAN    CHURCH    IN   AMERICA.  129 

Church  in  America.  Truth  requires  us  to  observe, 
too,  that  all  this  was  at  a  time  when  as  a  Church 
she  was  distinguished  by  exemplary  fidelity  to  her 
Confession.  Her  pastors  were  firmly  bound  by 
the  Symbolical  Books  to  the  word  of  God  alone, 
and  her  people  were  all  trained,  by  faithful  cate- 
chetical instruction,  to  esteem  the  w^ord  and  sa- 
craments above  all  earthly  price. 
/^  Their  system  of  catechetical  instruction  should 
not  be  overlooked.  It  began  with  the  children  in 
the  family:  it  brought  them  together,  as  the  chil- 
dren of  the  Church,  under  the  care  of  the  pastor 
upon  the  Lord's  day;  and,  still  more  thorough  and 
practical  in  its  application,  it  prepared  the  youth 
and  others  of  maturer  years  for  a  worth}^  introduc- 
tion to  the  communion  of  the  Church.  The  ma- 
nual universally  commended  aijd  in  general  use 
was  Luther's  Small  Catechism.  )  The  relations  of 
this  volume  in  the  times  of  which  we  are  vrriting, 
as  well  as  on  many  other  occasions,  show^  that  it 
possesses  no  ordinary  character.  Contending 
sects,  unable  alike  to  penetrate  its  depths  and  to 
appreciate  its  simplicity,  assailed  it  with  violent 
opposition  and  spoke  of  it  in  contemptuous  terms. 
But  men  of  God,  who  had  been  qualified,  by  their 
own  profound  experience,  to  estimate  its  worth, 
relied  upon  it  and  used  it  faithfully,  as  a  most  effi- 
cient instrument  for  enliorhtcninsr  the  darkened 
understanding,  for  arousing  the  sleeping  con- 
science, for  leading  the  inquiring  soul  to  God. 
Wrangel,  the  provost  of  the  Swedish  churches 


^ 


130  EATILY    IIISTOIIY    OF   THE 

at  a  period  somewhat  later,  translated  the  cate- 
chism into  the  English  language;  and  the  united 
Synod  of  Swedes  and  Germans  approved  of  it, 
and  strongly  recommended  its  use  in  the  English 
churches.  Ahout  the  year  1749,  a  German  edi- 
tion was  published  by  Benjamin  Franklin ;  and, 
large  as  it  was,  it  was  rapidly  disposed  of.  When 
the  duties  of  the  pastors  upon  the  Lord's  day  per- 
mitted it,  they  occupied  the  afternoon  in  the  in- 
struction of  the-  children.  Then  the  churches 
were  nearly  as  well  filled  as  for  the  morning  ser- 
vice. The  3^oung  men,  the  young  women,  the 
parents,  as  well  as  the  children,  came,  many  of  them 
furnished  with  the  Bible  in  addition  to  the  cate- 
chism, searching  out  and  repeating  the  difi:erent 
proof-passages,  and  with  such  an  earnestness  of 
attention,  that  the  pastors  believed  that  they  some- 
times did  more  good  by  this  exercise  than  by  their 
ordinary  preaching.  Whilst  they  required  the 
catechism  to  be  committed  to  memory,  they  were 
careful  not  to  overburden  the  memory,  aiming 
mainly  at  a  clear  exhibition  of  the  truth  to  the 
understanding  and  a  direct  application  of  it  to  the 
heart.* 

Under  the  impression  that  in  union  there  was 
strength,  and  that  the  interests  of  the  whole  Church 
might  be  best  promoted  by  a  harmonious  co-opera- 
tion of  all  its  parts,  they  organized  a  General  Synod 
in    the   year   1748,  in   the   city  of   Philadelphia. 

■"-  Halle  Reports,  pp.  305,  857. 


LUTHERAN  CHURCH  IX  AMERICA.       131 

There  were  present,  at  this  meeting,  Sandin,  pro- 
vost of  the  Swedes,  and  ISTaesmann,  also  of  the 
Swedish  Church ;  Muhlenberg  and  Brunnholtz,  of 
Philadelphia,  Handschuh,  of  Lancaster,  and  Kurtz, 
of  Tulpehocken.  There  were  also  lay  delegates 
from  the  congregations  in  Philadelphia,  German- 
town,  Providence,  'New  Hanover,  Upper  Milford, 
and  Saccum.  The  town  of  York,  in  Pennsyl- 
vania, was  at  that  time  so  far  distant  from  Philadel- 
phia, that  a  journey  thither  was  felt  to  be  a  very 
serious  undertaking;  and,  accordingly,  Schaum, 
who  was  then  laboring  in  York,  was  not  able  to 
attend  the  meeting.  The  transactions  at  this  Con- 
vention were  only  preparatory,  and  had  reference 
mainly  to  the  external  organization  of  the  body. 
The  Synod  thus  organized  has,  from  that  day  to 
this,  richly  shared  in  the  divine  blessing.  Though 
subject  to  the  changes  incidental  to  all  human 
altairs,  it  still  continues  until  this  day  known  and 
deservedly  respected  throughout  the  Church  as  the 
German  Lutheran  Synod  of  Pennsylvania  and 
adjacent  States.  Li  two  of  its  features  is  it  espe- 
cially true  to  its  early  origin  :  one  is  the  predomi- 
nance of  the  German  element;  the  other  is  its 
noble  maintenance  of  the  doctrinal  position  of  the 
godly  men  who  organized  it.  The  distinction  is 
very  great  between  the  German  character  as,  met 
with  at  present  in  our  German  churches,  and  that 
supposed  refinement  or  improvement  of  the  Ger- 
man character  that  is  developed  in  churches  al- 
ready Americanized.     The  former  is  marked  by  a 


132  EARLY   HISTORY    OE    TUB 

piety  at  once  deep  and  unobtrusive,  a  faitli  that  is 
earnest  and  fearless,  yet  modest  and  retiring.  The 
latter,  in  the  development  of  its  spirituality,  seeks 
rather  to  extend  itself,  to  attract  the  attention  of 
the  world,  to  acquire  power  and  to  wield  influence 
'amongst  men :  in  a  word,  it  diligently  consults, 
and  faithfully  obeys,  that  law  of  progress  of  their 
subjection  to  which,  in  political  and  civil  affairs, 
the  inhabitants  of  this  land  are  wont  to  make  their 
boast.  The  Synod  of  Pennsylvania,  when  viewed 
in  the  light  of  this  progressive  spirit,  might  ap- 
pear to  be  wanting  in  that  devotion  to  the  interests 
of  the  Church  which  its  numerical  strength  and  its 
abundant  resources  would  seem  to  require.  But 
as  the  representative  of  the  German  Church,  as  an 
agent  of  the  German  spirit  in  deep  love  for  the 
pure  unadulterated  doctrines  of  the  word,  and  in 
uniform,  judicious,  persevering  efforts  for  the  pro- 
motion of  the  kingdom  of  God  at  home  and  abroad, 
its  position  is  as  prominent  and  as  honorable  in 
the  Lutheran  Church  of  America,  at  this  day,  as  is 
that  of  any  other  Synod  within  her  borders. 

The  reputation  of  the  Church  at  that  day, 
amongst  the  intelligent  Christians  of  the  land, 
was  at  once  lofty  and  extended.  Her  ministry 
was  distinguished  for  learning  and  piety,  whilst 
the  earnest  zeal,  the  gentle  virtues  of  her  mem- 
bership commanded  general  respect. 

So,  with  the  abundance  of  her  materials,  her 
evangelical  discipline,  her  fidelity  to  the  pure  un- 
adulterated doctrines  of  the  word,  her  efforts  to 


LUTHERAN   CHURCH   IN   AMERICA.  133 

combine  her  various  forces,  and  lier  general  good 
repute,  the  Lutheran  Church  was  surrounded  at 
this  early  day  by  circumstances  that  seem  to  have 
held  out  the  prospect  of  eminent  distinction  and 
of  extensive  usefulness  among  the  churches  and 
the  general  population  of  the  land. 

Her  subsequent  history  has  not  corresponded 
with  these  early  indications.  Encouraging  as  her 
circumstances  are  at  present,  yet  whoever  studies 
her  history  during  the  interval  will  have  reason  to 
lament  her  disasters  more  frequently  than  to  glory 
in  her  triumphs ;  and  many  a  time  when  he  would 
fain  boast  of  her  progress,  he  will  be  able  only  to 
deplore  the  hinderances  that  arrested  her  onward 
march. 

To  examine  this  latter  history,  however,  is  not 
our  purpose  at  present.  Still,  restricting  our  in- 
quiries to  her  earlier  days,  we  shall  consider  the 
circumstances  that  seem  to  have  darkened  the  fair 
hopes  begotten  in  the  brightnes  of  her  early  dawn. 

It  might  have  been  no  small  advantage  to  the 
Church  if  a  reasonable  proportion  of  this  w^orld's 
goods  had  been  subject  to  the  control  of  her  piety. 
The  number  of  her  ministry,  and  the  amount  of 
accommodations  for  public  worship  and  for  schools, 
would  have  been  more  likely  to  keep  pace  with 
her  increasing  wants.  Her  youth,  however,  was 
cadly  straitened  and  cramped  by  the  burden  of 
poverty.  Large  masses  of  the  Germans,  upon 
their  arrival  in  this  country,  were  in  such  a  state 
of  absolute  destitution  that  the  first  years  of  their 


134  EARLY    HISTORY    OP   THE 

abode  in  America  had  to  be  spent  in  actual  servi- 
tude for  the  purpose  of  defraying  tbe  expenses  of 
their  vo3^age  across  the  ocean. 

A  system  of  outrageous  imposition  and  decep- 
tion practised  upon  the  Germans  of  the  Palatinate 
and  of  Wurtemberg,  for  many  years,  by  selfish  and 
designing  men,  whilst  it  increased  the  quantity  of 
the  material  of  the  Church,  failed  to  produce  a 
corresponding  effect  upon  its  quality.  To  these 
impositions  the  attention  of  Muhlenberg  was  often 
directed,  and  he  has  not  neglected  to  give  us  a 
graphic  description  of  them. 

In  the  fall  of  the  year  1749  there  arrived  in  Phi- 
ladelphia twenty-five  ship-loads  of  Germans,  com- 
prising altogether  seven  thousand  and  forty-nine 
souls.  Many  of  the  people  thus  arriving  from 
time  to  time  were  objects  worthy  of  the  deepest 
commiseration.  TJiey  had  become  the  prey  of  the 
Neiilaender ;  and  nothing  but  a  weary  servitude 
now  could  release  them  from  their  snares. 

These  Neulaender,  as  the  Germans  called  them, 
(we  presume,  because  they  preached  up  emigration 
to  the  New  Land  or  Neiv  World,  as  a  panacea  for  all 
the  ills  under  which  the  Germans  groaned,)  these 
Nculaender  drove  a  thriving  business  in  lading  the 
ships  of  Holland  merchants  with  German  emi- 
grants and  transporting  their  live  freight  to  the 
shores  of  the  Delaware.  The  merchants  of  Hol- 
land, thus  deeply  interested  in  the  increase  of  emi- 
gration, had  contracts  with  the  Neulacndcr,  en- 
gaging to  give  them  a  free  passage  for  themselves 


LUTHERAN    CHURCH    IN   AMERICA.  135 

and  their  wares,  together  with  a  certain  percentage 
for  every  emigrant  whom  they  might  entice  on 
board  their  ships. 

Accordingly  the  JSeulaender  overran  Germany, 
determined  to  make  the  best  of  it.  So  successful 
were  they,  even  at  an  early  day,  that  when,  in  1749, 
Muhlenberg  saw  how  the  thousands  of  poor  re- 
demptioners  came  pouring  in,  even  with  all  his 
zeal  for  the  Church  and  his  hearty  love  for  all  her 
members,  he  seems  to  have  deplored  and  depre- 
cated these  large  a-dditions,  because  they  would  be 
calculated  by  their  very  dependence  and  helpless- 
ness to  divide  the  attentions  of  the  pastors,  already 
overburdened  with  labors,  and  to  cramp  the  ener- 
gies of  congregations  already  established.* 

The  Keidaender  were  men  by  no  means  destitute 
of  talents.  Their  talents,  such  as  they  were,  were 
strongly  marked ;  but  they  were  of  that  descrip- 
tion that  is  always  more  or  less  fitted  for  mischief. 
They  were  artful,  cunning,  loquacious,  and  voluble. 
In  their  manners  they  aftected  the  gentleman  of 
rank,  in  their  attire  and  adornments  the  man  of 
wealth ;  and  so  they  sought  by  the  very  exhibition 
of  their  persons  to  prepossess  the  poor  Germans 
in  favor  of  a  land  of  which  they  showed  themselves 
as  representatives.  All  this  they  promptly  fol- 
lowed up  with  sympathizing  and  pathetic  allusions 
to  the  burdens,  the  poverty,  the  social  degradation, 
the  taxes,  under  which  the  Germans  groaned,  and 

*  Ilalle  Reports,  p.  125. 


136  EARLY   HISTORY   OF   THE 

Avith  eloquent  descriptions  of  the  immense  advan- 
tages which  the  "]N'ewLand"  held  out  to  them. 
There  were  the  true  Elysian  Fields ;  there  the  grain 
was  sown  and  the  harvests  were  gathered  without 
the  application  of  human  labor.  There  silver  and 
gold  were  dug  out  of  the  hills,  and  all  the  streams 
flowed  with  milk  and  honey.  Whoever  had  been 
a  servant  in  Germany  would  in  that  new  land 
be  advanced  to  the  dignity  of  a  master,  whilst  the 
maid-servant  should  find  herself  surrounded  by 
all  the  ease  and  adorned  with  all  the  graces  of  a 
lady.  The  ploughman  might  confidently  expect 
to  be  a  nobleman,  and  the  mechanic  a  baron. 

Whether  the  Germans  literally  believed  all  this, 
or  not,  is  a  matter  of  comparatively  little  conse- 
quence. It  was  natural  that  poor  men  and  de- 
pendent families,  anxious  to  improve  their  condi- 
tion, should,  even  after  making  certain  allowances 
for  exaggeration,  have  sufiicient  confidence  in  the 
representations  of  these  deceivers  to  induce  them 
to  try  their  fortunes  in  the  New  World.  Accord- 
ingly, they  dispose  of  all  they  have,  sail  down  the 
Rhine,  gather  together  in  anxious  crowds  in  the 
ports  of  Holland,  and  make  arrangements  for  their 
voyage  to  Philadelphia.  Their  scanty  funds  sadly 
reduced  by  the  expenses  of  delay  before  setting 
sail,  they  are  prevailed  upon  by  the  deceitful  Neu- 
kiendcr  to  sign  a  certain  contract  in  the  English 
language,  the  purport  of  which  they  do  not  under- 
stand. Arriving  in  the  'New  World,  they  discover 
to  their  utter  dismay,  when  the  contract  is  pro- 


LUTHERAN    CHURCH    IN   AMERICA.  137 

cliiced,  that  they  have  bound  themselves  to  submit 
to  the  dio;)osal  of  the  captaiu  of  the  vessel,  to  be 
sold  into  servitude  for  the  purpose  of  defraying 
the  expenses  of  their  passage.  The  papers  then 
teem  with  advertisements  of  the  sale  of  German 
emigrants.  Purchasers  from  town  and  country 
present  themselves.  Every  man  makes  his  own 
selection,  and,  taking  his  newly-acquired  servant 
before  a  magistrate,  holds  him  fast  by  legal  forms 
for  long  and  weary  years  of  bondage. 

Many,  very  many  Germans  began  the  develop- 
ment of  their  American  history  in  this  depressed 
condition.  All  of  them,  as  being  Germans,  but 
especially  those  that  were  Lutherans,  were  the  oc- 
casion of  much  anxious  solicitude  to  the  few  and 
already  overburdened  pastors  of  the  Church.  They 
could  not  be  neglected :  the  labor  of  hunting  them 
up  and  visiting  them,  scattered  as  they  were 
through  town  and  country,  was  so  much  deducted 
from  the  attentions  required  by  the  organized 
churches,  or  by  flourishing  settlements  where  large 
congregations  might  be  organized.  The  spiritual 
cure  of  these  isolated  redemptioners  might  have 
a  rich  rew^ard  in  the  personal  edification  of  many 
of  them,  comforting  them  during  the  tedious  years 
of  their  servitude,  and  perhaps  preparing  some  of 
them  for  usefulness  and  prominence  in  the  Church, 
w^hen  the  time  of  their  enlargement  came.  But 
it  could  not  be  expected  to  tell  favorably  upon  the 
external  condition  of  the  Church  at  the  time ;  and 

12- 


138  EARLY   HISTORY    OF   THE 

it  did  not.  In  view,  then,  of  the  condition  of  these 
redemptioners,  and  of  the  temporal  and  spiritual 
attentions  extended  to  them  by  the  Church  and  its 
pastors,  we  may  see  how  it  came  to  pass  that  the 
progress  of  the  Church  was  retarded  by  the  very 
abundance  of  its  material,  and  that  the  fruits  of 
pastoral  labor  were  not  well  proportioned  to  its 
amount. 

Large  numbers  of  these  poor  German  Luther- 
ans found  their  earliest  homes  amongst  different 
classes  of  errorists,  whose  unhappy  influence  not 
unfrequently  led  them  either  into  the  turbulence 
of  fanaticism  or  into  utter  forgetfulness  of  God. 
And  so  began,  at  this  early  day,  that  practical 
evil  which  has  ever  been  so  calamitous  to  the  Lu- 
theran Church, — the  readiness  of  her  children  to 
turn  aside  from  the  faith  of  the  fathers,  and  seek 
a  home  in  some  one  or  other  of  the  various  com- 
munions by  which  they  are  surrounded. 

Among  the  colonists  brought  over  by  the  Neu- 
laender  there  turned  up  from  time  to  time  sundry 
notorious  characters,  who  were  passed  around 
among  the  worldly-minded  and  unbelieving  as 
preachers  of  the  gospel.  Some,  having  once 
occupied  the  pastoral  office  in  Germany,  had 
been  degraded  for  misconduct;  others,  who  had 
been  known  only  as  wild  and  reckless  students, 
had  been  expatriated  by  their  own  lawlessness. 
Distinguished  among  the  masses  by  a  somewhat 
higher  cultivation  in  their  manners,  if  not  in 
their  nppearance,  they  found  no  difficulty  in  com- 


LUTHERAN    CHURCH    IN    AMERICA.  130 

mendino;  themselves  to  the  confidence  of  the  un- 
suspecting,  and  especially  of  those  unworthy  Lu- 
therans who  would  not  endure  sound  doctrine, 
and  who  withstood  the  faithful  pastors  of  the 
Church  in  an  opposition  which,  though  not  organ- 
ized, was  nevertheless  most  annoying. 

These  adventurers,  purchased  from  shiphoard 
by  men  who,  boasting  the  name,  were  hostile  to 
the  spirit,  of  the  Lutheran  Church,  then  affected 
the  style  and  dignity  of  evangelical  Lutheran 
clergymen.  They  first  served  their  purchasers 
and  paid  for  their  passage  by  preaching.  They 
then  careered  through  the  land,  haranguing  the 
Germans  wherever  they  could  find  a  hearing. 
They  talked  loudly  about  organizing  congrega- 
tions ;  they  traduced  and  attempted  to  unchurch 
the  members  and  pastors  of  those  already  organ- 
ized. Their  effrontery  soon  corrected  itself: 
their  own  rottenness  became  apparent.  Discord 
broke  out  among  their  friends,  their  personal  in- 
fiuence  was  lost,  and  they  closed  their  round  by 
taking  their  exit,  to  try  the  same  unhappy  game 
in  some  other  quarter.* 

The  influence  of  such  movements  upon  the 
Church  could  not  be  otherwise  than  deleterious. 
It  would  not  only  discourage  the  hearts  of  well- 
disposed  Lutherans  themselves;  it  might,  to  a 
great  extent,  destroy  the  public  confidence  in  the 
integrity  of  the  pastoral  character,  and  expose  the 

*  Halle  Reports,  p.  C82. 


140  EAKLY    niSTOllY    OF    THE 

■whole  Church  itself  to  an  odium  which  only  the 
lapse  of  many  years  would  be  able  to  remove. 

The  intercourse  of  the  Germans  with  the  other 
inhabitants  of  the  land  was  confined  within  very 
narrow  limits.  Indulging  a  natural  disposition 
to  quietude  and  retirement,  simple  in  their  wants, 
and  ever  diligent  in  the  employment  of  their 
time,  they  became  reserved  and  distant,  not  to 
say  clannish  and  selfish.  Their  resolute  adherence 
to  their  own  language  was  at  once  the  cause  and 
the  effect  of  this.  Muhlenberg,  in  his  readiness 
to  preach  the  gospel  in  English  as  well  as  in  Ger- 
man, afforded  a  noble  example,  which  it  would 
have  been  well  for  the  Church  to  have  followed. 
In  his  own  personal  history  we  see  an  illustration 
of  the  good  effects  such  a  course  might  have  had 
upon  the  Church  at  large.  His  fellowship  nvith 
enlightened  men  of  the  land,  and  with  Christians 
of  other  name,  was  at  once  free  and  frequent, 
pleasant  and  profitable.  It  not  only  enlarged  his 
own  ideas  as  to  what  the  Church  required,  but  it 
impressed  the  minds  of  others  with  ideas  concern- 
ing the  Lutheran  Church  altogether  favorable  to 
its  position  and  its  character. 

Upon  this  intelligent  and  spirited  course,  how- 
ever, the  German  Lutherans,  as  a  whole,  refused 
to  follow.  The}^  spoke  the  German  language,  and 
they  wanted  no  other.  In  matters  of  trade  and 
business  they  could  be  bold  enough,  when  neces- 
sity required,  to  attempt  the  English;  but  upon 
the   subject  of  religion   their  thoughts  were   all 


LUTHERAN    CHURCH    IX   AMERICA.  141 

German,  and  German  only.  The  doctrines  of 
the  Cross,  to  obtain  any  notice  at  their  hands, 
must  needs  be  presented  to  them  in  the  imposing 
attire  of  their  own  native  speech. 

Under  these  circumstances  there  could  exist, 
between  the  Lutheran  Church  and  the  other  evan- 
gelical Churches  of  the  land,  only  a  very  feeble 
sympathy.  There  might  be  sentiments  of  mutual 
respect;  but  there  could  be  no  cordial,  extensive, 
permanent  co-operation.  The  English  churches, 
wisely  taking  advantage  of  the  necessities  of  the 
times,  showed  themselves  servants  of  all  men,  and 
so  prospered  and  gained  the  more.  The  Luther- 
ans, confining  their  ministry  to  the  Germans  alone, 
could  accomplish  no  higher  results  than  what 
might  be  produced  upon  one  solitary  class,  which, 
with  all  its  virtues,  was  slow  in  its  movements, 
deficient  in  enterprise,  shut  up  within  itself,  and, 
in  addition  to  all,  small  in  its  minority. 

Quite  as  disastrous  as  this,  if  not  more  so,  was 
the  effect  produced  upon  the  children  of  the 
Lutherans  themselves.  Brought  into  contact, 
more  or  less  frequently,  with  other  classes  and  the 
members  of  other  Churches,  the  children  of  the 
Lutherans  rapidly  acquired  the  English  language, 
then  preferred  it,  then  sought  to  conform  them- 
selves to  the  manners  and  customs  of  their  more 
progressive  neighbors,  and,  finally,  did  not  object 
to  go  far  beyond  their  fathers  in  sympathy  with 
other  Churches,  whose  external  aspects  they  per- 
haps thought  more  attractive,  and  the  worship  of 


142  EARLY   HISTORY   OF   THE 

which  was  conducted  in  the  common  speech  of 
the  country. 

So  the  Lutheran  Church,  instead  of  advancing 
in  members  and  strengthening  itself  by  the  train- 
ing of  its  successive  generations,  lost  incalculably 
much  by  the  exodus  of  each  successive  generation 
from  its  borders,  and  for  many  years  had  to  fall 
back  again  upon  the  material  furnished  by  new 
arrivals  from  abroad.  It  was  always  beginning 
and  always  behind. 

We  cannot  impeach  the  character  nor  the  motives 
of  the  good  men  by  whom  this  policy  was  resolutely 
maintained.  They  supposed  that  the  spiritual  in- 
terests of  the  Germans  depended  upon  them,  that 
the  Germans  could  be  approached  only  through 
the  medium  of  their  own  language,  that  the  in- 
troduction of  the  English  tongue  would  open  the 
way  for  ultimately  dispossessing  the  Germans,  and 
that  those  who  might  prefer  to  worship  in  the 
English  language  need  themselves  sufter  no  loss, 
for  they  could  be  accommodated  elsewhere.  Yet 
it  was  a  mistaken  policy.  It  was  the  occasion  of 
immense  loss  to  the  Lutheran  Church ;  and  it  has 
prevented  her,  for  many  years,  from  producing  that 
impression  upon  the  general  religious  character  of 
the  land,  the  expectation  of  which  arose  so  strongly 
out  of  the  devotion  and  vigor  of  her  early  com- 
mencement. 

Here  it  is  proposed  to  stop  for  the  present. 
Materials  for  the  continuation  of  this  history  are 


LUTHERAN   CHURCH   IN   AMERICA.  143 

abundant,  and  the  long  and  eventful  years  of  an- 
other century  await  investigation.  If*  the  labor 
that  has  been  employed  in  the  preparation  of  this 
volume  should  be  found  to  be  acceptable  to  the 
Lutherans  of  our  land,  it  will  be  a  pleasing  work 
to  the  author  to  bring  down  the  accounts  nearer  to 
our  own  times,  with  the  divine  permission. 

Whatever  reflections  may  be  natural  by  way  of 
application  to  this  division  of  the  history  might  be 
more  appropriately  made  by  the  reader  than  sug- 
gested by  the  author.  So  here  he  withdraws, 
though  he  feels  that  in  doing  so  he  may  appear  to 
be  abrupt. 

The  author  is  happy  in  being  able  to  correct  an 
omission  which  was  the  result  of  inadvertence. 
Several  important  facts  in  the  foregoing  history 
are  quoted  upon  the  authority  of  O'Callaghan's 
History  of  the  ISTew  ^N'etherlands  and  of  the  his- 
torical works  of  Eev.  W.  M.  Reynolds,  D.D.,  whose 
investigations  are  believed  to  be  particularly  tho- 
rough and  reliable. 


\ 

THE   END. 


Date  Due 

v» 

A 

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3iKMi^ 

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f 

ISySS'of  the  Utheran  church  in 

p„„„,o.  Tl,eolo„cal  S™;"ar»-Spe.r  L*rar,_ 


1       1 


012  00020  9421 


